Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay did their bits quite brilliantly on the third day of the first Test match against England and now it is over to India's captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane to score runs on day four in Rajkot on Saturday. Still trailing England by well over 200 runs, India need another top-of-the-draw batting day to ensure the away side do not have an opportunity of picking up a win.
Pujara and Vijay, India's two best batsmen when it comes to defence, were outstanding on day three, showing patience and the wherewithal to not be bothered by what was a big first innings score from England.
At 319/4, there is still a lot of work to be done – India cannot think, "oh we have had two centurions already, that should make the game safe."
Watch the Virat Kohli hit-wicket
The deficit is now 218 runs and while following on is now out of the question, India will know the danger of collapsing to hand England a substantial lead. Pujara, the local boy, believes batting will get difficult on Day 4 and the ball will really start to turn on the final day, so if India fail to continue with their solid batting, they will find themselves with a difficult task on the fifth day.
Therefore, making sure India get as close to England as possible, if not go past them, will be vital. Kohli and Rahane are as good a pair to help them do that, but England will be buoyed by the late wickets they picked up on the third day.
With Pujara and Vijay looking like taking India to stumps, England finally broke the partnership, before they got two wickets off the last four balls of the day.
While one of those wickets was only of the nightwatchman Amit Mishra – what a nightmare of a match he is having – England still only need six more wickets to end India's first innings.
The worrying bit for India is that Kohli and Rahane will be India's last pure batting pair. After that come the all-rounders and wicketkeeper.
While the likes of R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja can all have their say with the bat, the bulk of the run-scoring will need to be done by Kohli and Rahane.
The India captain took a while to get used to the pitch on Friday and he will need to make sure he takes his time on Day 4 morning as well. Rahane, yet to face a single ball, will do the same, no doubt, and early morning is when England will target a few wickets.
If the English manage to do that, we could be in for a really nervous last couple of days, from India's perspective.
Where to Watch Live
India vs England first Test, Day 4 is scheduled for a 9.30am IST (4am GMT, 11am ET) start. Live Streaming and TV information is below.
India: TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
US and Canada: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Cricket Live.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 2. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 2. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
