England vs India, First Test, Day 3: 5 Talking Points

This absorbing opening Test match between England and India that has had everyone glued to the television sets will find a winner on Saturday, but it is anybody's guess, as to who that will be.

That after India were left with 84 runs to go 1-0 up in the series finishing at 110 for 5 in pursuit of 194 with two full days left in the Test match. Their talisman- Virat Kohli- was unbeaten on 43 and giving him company was Dinesh Karthik, on 18.

The visitors find themselves in such a position thanks to a terrific bowling effort in the second innings from Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin, who took eight wickets between them to put India in the driver's seat.

Only a resilient 63 from Sam Curran ensured that England reached a total which could give their bowlers something to bowl with.

Here are five talking points from the day:

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#1 India's slip cordon rises to the challenge

India

were

very impressive in the slip cordon on

Friday

In the first innings, India had few moments to regret, one among them was their iffy slip fielding. On Friday, it was in this aspect where the players rose to the occasion and delivered.

Setting the tone was KL Rahul, who took two sharp chances of R Ashwin's bowling and his effort seem to have rubbed on to the others as well as the fielders finally complimented the bowlers in and around the cordon.

Hopefully, the players can carry this forward for the rest of the series as well.

Curran does the talking, this time with the bat

Curran was excellent with the bat for England

For the second day in a row, Sam Curran proved to be the hero for England, this time with the bat in hand.

The Surrey all-rounder walked in to bat with England reeling at 86 for 6 just after the lunch break and along with the tail, rallied his team along. He first added 48 runs with Adil Rashid, then 41 with Stuart Broad, en route to reaching his career-best score of 63 runs before being the last man out.

His performance in this game will surely hold him in good stead for the remainder of the series

Ashwin shines with the ball

Ashwin was terrific with the ball once again

There is a reason why former Indian greats stress enormously on current players featuring in county cricket. It is because adjusting to English conditions eventually has a big bearing on performances later on.

One player who will agree to that line of thinking and that player is Ravichandran Ashwin, who was simply brilliant in the third day of the Test match from the first ball.

Guile, accuracy and critically, the drift, all fell in place for the off-spinner on the third day and it resulted in him picking up figures of 21-4-59-3 and a match haul of 7 for 121.

Immaculate Ishant sparkles for India

Ishant Sharma will remember this spell for a long time

Ishant Sharma. The butt of jokes in many an overseas tour over the years decided on Friday that it was time for redemption.

In helpful conditions, the lanky pacer produced one of the best spells of his career picking up figures of 5 for 51 in 13 overs to break the back of the English innings.

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar out for two more matches, India needed someone else to stand up and perform and the workhorse took up that responsibility and delivered in fine style on Friday.

King Kohli holds the key.....again

Will Kohli take India all the way on Saturday?

Chasing 194 for a victory, India needed a good start. They didn't get that, meaning it was upto Virat Kohli again to step up and that he did, once again, remaining unbeaten on 43 with Dinesh Karthik for company.

84 runs away from only their seventh win on English soil, the whole of India will be in prayer mode on Saturday, hoping they get there.

For them to do that, one man needs to be there, until the end. Kohli has played a colossal role to ensure India are in the position they are in after the third day of this Test match and for one more day, everything will rely on him if India are to go 1-0 up in the five-match series.