A week on from England’s remarkable win in Hyderabad and Ben Stokes and Co need a similarly remarkable turnaround to force a victory in the second Test.
The tourists head into the third day in Vizag already staring down the barrel of defeat. India are 171 runs ahead and have all 10 second-innings wickets in hand. It is a similar situation to the one England faced in the first Test, when they were 190 runs behind after the first innings, one they came back to win in spectacular style.
However, such is the confidence Brendan McCullum and Stokes have installed that Zak Crawley and his team-mates are not ruling out lightning striking twice, commenting that India may well be wary of assuming victory is in the bag.
“It’s always important to know you are playing against a side that will never give up and can fight back from any situation,” the opener said.
“That gives us a lot of heart. They will know we have got it in us. It’s a mental game – [the first Test defeat] must play on their minds a little bit, for sure.
“Hopefully they believe a little bit we can win it and they have a little bit of doubt in their minds.”
Jasprit Bumrah’s six for 45 was the highlight of day two in Vizag, one that saw India take decisive control of the Test. The fast bowler once again had perfect control of reverse swing to skittle the England batsmen, none as spectacularly as Ollie Pope whose stumps were sent flying by a Waqar Younis-esque yorker.
With James Anderson on song with the new ball, the tourists had earlier taken four for 60 runs to keep India to what seemed a manageable total of 396. But despite the side’s best efforts Bumrah’s brilliance saw England all out for 253.