By Luke Bidwell
It was arguably advantage England after the First Test but after a heavy defeat in Visakhapatnam, do they now face an impossible task?
A huge defeat in the second of a five-Test series in India leaves Trevor Bayliss’s side with a mountain to climb if they want to emerge from Asia with a series win.
A 246-run margin of victory was fully indicative of India’s dominance once captain Virat Kohli & Cheteshwar Pujara combined for a huge stand of 226 on the first day.
Facing an unlikely target of victory, England tried to bat out five sessions for a draw but were ultimately undone by India’s spin bowlers, who bounced back with a vengeance after a disappointing previous outing.
World number one bowler Ravi Ashwin took eight wickets in the match as 16 of the English wickets fell to the twirlers on a pitch more tailored to that suit compared to the one at Rajkot.
Haseeb Hameed provided more evidence of his ability at Test match level while Durham’s Ben Stokes struck 70 in the first innings, the highest of any England player in the match.
Adil Rashid also impressed yet again with the ball but England were unable to match India’s scoring power with the bat and were ultimately made to pay for making just 255 first time around, a deficit of 200.
It leaves head coach Bayliss with some decisions to make as they head to the third Test at Mohali starting this weekend, with Stuart Broad looking unlikely to play after suffering an injury last week; Chris Woakes could be recalled in his place, while Jake Ball is also in contention.
He could also be tempted to bring in Jos Buttler, the powerful wicketkeeper who has yet to be used on the tour.
Watch England in action at Emirates Riverside next year when they take on the West Indies on Saturday, 16 September, a hotly-anticipated rematch of this year’s ICC World T20 Final – click here for more information