India finally got the momentum they needed in this series, with that turning into a win and a 1-0 series lead over England. Now, India will be under pressure to press home their advantage when the two teams meet for the third Test match in Mohali.
While the wicket was more conducive to spin than the one in Rajkot, the Viskhapatnam pitch was nowhere near a dustbowl, that spun square, which, in many ways, allowed England to put in a real fighting performance.
However, with the pressure of the big score on them and the accurate bowling of India to boot, England eventually caved, with their lack of first innings runs costing them in the end.
Alastair Cook kept on insisting the toss was a really important one to win, even if the pitch was pretty decent for batting through most of the first three days. Win or lose the toss, to compete in India, the away side need to put runs on the board in the first innings. And after India managed 455 in theirs, England could only post 255, which is where the match went away from them.
England will hope the Mohali pitch offers more assistance to the pace bowlers, and if it does, the playing XI will have an extra fast bowler, with Zafar Ansari, most probably, sitting it out.
While there has been a lot of talk about the wickets offered so far, this series has produced some outstanding cricket, and there is nothing to suggest we won't see more of it in the third Test.
While R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja failed to make their mark in the opening match, they were much better in the second Test, with Ashwin finishing with eight wickets in the contest. That will be a big boost for India, because if they are to continue picking up wins, Ashwin needs to remain in rhythm.
Another man in full slow is Virat Kohli, whose batting has gone up a level or three in Test match cricket this year. Kohli was the outstanding batsman in the second Test, making run-scoring on the Visakhapatnam pitch look easy, when everyone else struggled.
India, though, need to make sure they are not over-reliant on Kohli, with the onus on the likes of KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane to show more consistency. Rahane has been quite disappointing in this series so far, looking uncomfortable against spin and playing not-what-you-want-to-see shots against the pacers.
Being the vice-captain, there is a lot of responsibility on the right-hander to contribute with the bat, and the Mohali Test needs to be the match when the real Rahane stands up.
India vs England: 3rd Test match schedule.
Date: Saturday, November 26 to Wednesday, November 30.
Time: 9.30am IST, 4am GMT, 11pm ET (previous day).
Venue: PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
TV guide: India: Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3 (last two Hindi commentary). UK: Sky Sports 2. Middle East: OSN Sports Cricket HD. USA, Canada: Willow TV. Australia: Fox Sports 1. New Zealand: Sky Sport 3. Singapore: Star Cricket.
