Two late wickets for England saw India’s fightback stall after Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara made centuries on day three of the first test.
Pujara (124) and Vijay (126) paved the way for India to claw their way back into the Test before England claimed two late wickets.
India closed day three on 319-4, still 218 runs adrift, with captain Virat Kohli (26*) still at the crease.
In his 100th test, Nottinghamshire’s Stuart Broad ensured England got off to the perfect start as he claimed the first wicket of the day when he trapped Gautam Gambhir (29) LBW in the second over.
That wicket brought a 209-run partnership between Vijay and Pujara, which stifled England’s optimism after the early wicket.
England continued with their attacking ploy with Chris Woakes having a five overs spell before lunch which saw him hit Pujara’s helmet thrice before Broad continued to pile on the pressure after lunch, bowling five overs for just one run.
Pujara went to tea with the partnership intact despite multiple scares through the hostile short pitched bowling of the England attach, along with a reprieve through DRS when he was initially given out off a Zafar Ansari delivery.
Vijay also survived a scare on his way to a century when debutant Haseeb Hameed spurned a tricky low catch off Broad.
Ben Stokes eventually broke the partnership of 209 when Pujara (124) steered straight to England Captain, Alastair Cook at wide slip.
With two overs before the close of play, Adil Rashid’s googly got big on Vijay as it popped off his glove and went straight to Hameed at short leg. Night-watchman Amit Mishra wasn’t able to see the close of play as Hameed snared another at short leg, this one off Ansari, within as many overs to leave England buoyant as they left the field.
"I think we would be pretty satisfied with our day today. It's been an excellent day - the bowlers stuck to their guns and their plans really well,” said England Assistant Coach Paul Farbrace.
"We think we're in a good position. We do expect the wicket to turn and we expect it to be a little more up and down as well. We have seen a few misbehave over the last couple of days and I think it will start to happen more often.
"It's a case of staying in the game because when things do speed up and the ball starts to misbehave, you've got to make sure you're right in that game.
"Our spinners, have shown that they are capable of improving. They are not suddenly going to be world-class spinners overnight but they have shown today a real resolute way of getting the ball in the right area more often than not.
"To nick a couple out at the end makes our dressing room a happier place tonight. You'd take any lead but we're certainly not thinking about that at this stage."
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