India v England: Fourth Test, day two as it happened

Bresnan to bowl what's likely to be the penultimate over of day two, although we've just completed our minimum of 90. Wonder who India will put up for interview this evening - time for fielding coach Trevor Penney to be asked to "take one for the team" as he did in Kolkata, to widespread derision from the local media? I suppose Chawla's four wickets may have earned him that role. Dhoni plays out a maiden over from Big Tim.

Time for three more overs? Kohli helps Panesar off his legs for two, but the hosts still trail by 245.

Bresnan has rather toiled in the England attack today, even Simon Mann on TMS admits that England have done most of the work in this series with three bowlers, with apologies to Finn who bowled well in the third Test. Dhoni and Kohli plunder a single apiece.

Kohli threads Panesar for a well-run two through mid-wicket, he moves to seven. With two overs left to be bowled and 14 minutes left, we'll be getting some bonus overs again today.

Again, there's a hint of turn for Panesar as Kohli plays out a maiden over. Monty has figures of 12-4-20-0.

Kohli adds another single, to take his score to five leaving his skipper to face the rampaging Anderson. Dhoni will be happy to survive to the close of play here.

Panesar has changed ends to replace Swann, Dhoni - who's been nabbed a couple of times by Monty in this series already - turns a single off his legs, and Kohli whips a single through mid-wicket.

Here's a change in the order - captain Mahendra Dhoni, who's on the scorecard at seven, is coming in at six (above debutant Ravindra Jadeja) to try to dig his side out of the hole they're sliding into - they still trail by 259. Anderson is so on top here, they've even put a slip in. Dhoni gets an inside edge to his first ball and is inches away from playing on to his stumps. They run a single, Anderson has a majestic 3-23 from eight overs.

Swann spins down five dot balls to Gambhir as under-pressure India dig in, before he drills a three through the covers. We have a minimum of eight overs left today, which they should easily get in by 1100 GMT.

Anderson, with 2-22 from his first six overs, tries to work the magic again. Kohli survives a hostile maiden over from the "Burnley Express".

England definitely have a spring in their step now - Geoffrey's "add two wickets to the score" maxim has come true, and India are right under the pump, considering a few minutes ago they were cruising at 59-1. Gambhir moves to 34 with a single, Kohli is off the mark as he forces Swann for a three through the covers.

Tendulkar, still yet to score and only averaging 25 in Test cricket this year, has a slip and a silly point to contend with as he plays forward at Panesar. After four dot balls, he's finally off the mark from the 10th ball he faces with a single through the covers. Gambhir nicks the strike with a single.

Gambhir chops at Swann but is denied by a great diving stop by James Anderson at backward point ("the best fast-bowler-fielder I've ever seen," affirms Boycs on TMS). Maiden over, and another chance to resume the Panesar-Tendulkar duel.

Gambhir comes down the pitch to Panesar but can't beat Root who's next to the non-striker at short mid-on. A single brings Tendulkar on strike - it's more than six years since he became Panesar's first Test victim in Nagpur (though at a different ground). Ooh, that one turned and bounced, Tendulkar plays forward and Monty spins it past his outside edge as Prior takes the bails off. The next one turns too, it's as if Monty has just flicked a switch on the ball to bring it to life.

While England congratulate their trusty diving Bell, the crowd rise to acclaim the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar - could the "Little Master" be playing his last Test? At nearly 40, even some Indian playing legends have broken ranks to suggest that he should be thinking of retirement. He survives his first three balls.

And interestingly, replays show the ball definitely hit Pujara on the forearm and the pad before Bell caught it, but did it clip his glove before hitting the forearm? Replays are inconclusive, but the fact that Pujara walked without waiting for the umpire's decision indicates that he thought he'd gloved it.

And having said that, there's a hint of a bit of turn as Pujara plays forward at Panesar, with the shadow of a large stand starting to encroach across the ground from the end Panesar's bowling at, just reaching the square. Maiden over for Monty, who has figures of 8-3-15-0.

Swann replaces Bresnan but Pujara moves to 26 with a single, and there's no spin or uneven bounce to assist the Notts off-spinner.

While Geoffrey Boycott returns to the TMS box brandishing a cup of green tea, Pujara and Gambhir keep plodding along with a couple of singles against Panesar, but then Pujara prods a dodgy single to square leg, Gambhir hesitates and if Compton's throw had hit the stumps, Gambhir might have been on his way after yet another run-out. Maybe they've secretly employed Nasser Hussain as a running-between-the-wickets coach. Gambhir has something wrong with his glove and wants it changed mid-over, and the floodlights are coming on.

Bresnan finds Gambhir's edge... Prior leaps to his left in vain but while a first slip might have stopped the boundary that is conceded, he wouldn't have caught it as once again, there's not enough carry on the ball. That's the fifty stand. A single takes him to 29, while Pujara, on 23, manages a leg bye. Bresnan remains wicketless in the series, time for a bowling change? India trail by 276.

Panesar skips in for his sixth over, Gambhir tries a big heave but misses and the ball is taken by Prior, then there's a comedy moment when Gambhir straight-drives and Monty collides with Root, fielding at short mid-on, neither of them can collect the ball and India scamper a slightly undeserved single. There's a minimum of 21 overs left today, by the way, so I'd have thought with two spinners available, we'll be finishing on time at 1100 GMT.

England persist with Bresnan for his sixth over, Gambhir squeezes a single down to fine leg where Monty is quickly on to it to prevent a second run. There's then a bit of hesitation as Pujara pushes the last ball into the covers - they should be alert as Gambhir has been involved in a few run-outs already this series.

Panesar bowls over the wicket to the left-handed Gambhir, who helps himself to a single. He's back round the wicket to the right-handed Pujara, who prods forward and the ball hits silly point Joe Root low on the shin pad, just above the ankle. If you were being very, very harsh, that was technically a chance. Pujara sees off a pretty tight over.

Pujara flicks Bresnan to fine leg for a single, he has 19, and Gambhir keeps just ahead of him with a single off his legs. Bres tries a bouncer, but Pujara hooks, rolling his wrists well to keep the ball down and that's four through mid-wicket. India chugging along at three an over.

Gambhir gets India going with a single to Panesar at fine leg, Pujara rotates the stroke with a leg bye.

Graeme Swann coming on for an over of off-spin before tea, against the left-handed Gambhir, who he's dismissed seven times in Test cricket. There's a short leg and a short cover, but Gambhir survives a maiden over and we'll have time for one more.

Monty hands his sunhat to the umpire, Gambhir comes down the crease and bludgeons a huge first-bounce four over long-on - reaching 4,000 Test runs in style, at an average (I kid you not) of 44.44. The left-hander straight-drives one just past the bowler's left hand for a single. Five minutes to tea.

It's Anderson to continue at the other end, Gambhir unleashes a lovely cover-driven four which gets the crowd on their feet. Still one slip in - which is one more than India had for most of the time Sharma was bowling - although he's at a rather wide slip position, where a solitary slip might stand in one-day cricket. Gambhir helps himself to a single to Jonathan Trott, who's patrolling the third man boundary - can England nip another one out before tea?

Bresnan's off after three overs and England give an early opportunity to Monty Panesar's left-arm spin. A slip and a short leg in for Pujara, who plays out a smooth maiden over from Monty.

Pujara opens the face to squeeze Anderson for two just wide of extra cover... but is then dicing with danger as he cuts and nearly chops the ball onto the stumps. A four back past the bowler and a single through mid-wicket take the Indian number three to 15 as Anderson bowls too short, while Geoffrey on TMS exhorts him to bowl "line and length".

Gambhir finds the boundary for the first time as he smacks Bresnan through point. Next ball, he comes down the wicket but can only hit it back to the bowler and Bresnan throws down the stumps as Gambhir steps back into his ground. Don't mess with Big Tim. There's about 20 minutes until tea.

The short leg has been removed, but there's still just the one slip in for Pujara, Anderson is bowling a miserly line and length, and that's a maiden as Pujara stands firm.

Pujara flicks Bresnan for a single to fine leg, the right-armer bowls round the wicket to the left-handed Gambhir but otherwise it's a tight over.

By the way, Sehwag is now up to seven Test ducks for India, putting him in the all-time top six along with one other batsman (Pankaj Roy) and four bowlers (the spin foursome of Bedi, Chandrasekhar, Prasanna and Venkat - I'm not even going to try to get the latter's full name through the BBC spell-checker).

There's a bit of inswing for Anderson, prompting Captain Cook to summon a fielding helmet to the middle - and with Joe Root the new "junior batsman", it's his task to crouch down at short leg. Pujara helps himself to a four through backward point, Monty can't reach that running round from third man, and a single takes the hosts into double figures.

Cheteshwar Pujara, aka the "junior Wall", is in at number three, and England have a more orthodox two slips in. Pujara flicks a two off his legs, but the wind is very firmly out of India's sails after that early wicket.

Anderson guides Ashwin for a single through mid-wicket, and Monty is off the mark with a quick single off his legs. Anderson moves to four with a single wide of mid-on, and Panesar sees off the rest of the over, while Aggers risks a commentator's curse by saying Monty "looks in good nick", while reminds TMS listeners that it was this batting pair that (effectively) won England the Ashes in 2009 with that heroic rearguard action to force a draw in Cardiff!

Monty Panesar strides out to bat for the first time since he got an appalling lbw decision first ball in Kolkata. His first ball is met with a fluent forward defensive, as is his second, and he is cheered by an England fan wearing a Monty T-shirt, but a fake beard and patka as well!

Anderson pushes Chawla for a single, Swann reverse-sweeps and misses, and Dhoni shows his football skills, doing four or five keepie-uppies with the ball before returning it to the bowler! A Swann single rounds off the over.

Anderson goes for a tail-ender's slash through the off side against Ashwin and is nearly caught by Tendulkar at backward point, but again the ball doesn't quite carry to the Little Master. Jimmy is off the mark with a single off his legs, Ashwin appeals for lbw against Swann but not even umpire Dharmasena will give that one as it pitched well outside leg stump. With a long-on in place, Swann lofts a two over the bowler's head. He has 42.

Left-hander James Anderson is the new batsman, there's a slip and a leg slip in. Anderson prods forwards, the ball squirms towards square leg and they scurry through for a leg bye. Will Anderson's presence encourage his friend Swann to hit out more? He straight-drives the last ball for four to move to 40.

Ashwin, bowling round the wicket into the rough outside leg stump, begins a new over to Swann, a single takes him to 36 and he must have half an eye on what would be his fifth Test fifty. Root adds a single off the last ball.

Dhoni rotates his spinners as leggie Chawla replaces left-armer Jadeja, and Swann forges ahead with another single. Root slog-sweeps through mid-wicket for four, and that takes England to the psychologically important figure of 300. As we've observed earlier today, offered 300 this morning - deal or no deal - we would have said "deal".

Geoffrey is perturbed between overs as the England batsmen start to walk off - "they can't have declared" he exclaims - but with Sharma taken off after that two-over burst, it's a double change of headgear with England's eighth-wicket pair, who have added 51, back in their caps. Ashwin is back on for another spell of off-spin, and after a single from Root, there's a hint of bounce and turn against Swann, who should be encouraged for when he turns his arm over later today. A single takes him to 33.

Swann extends his personal score to 25 and the stand to 43 with a single against Sharma, Root gets an inside edge to one that keeps low but again, the ball does not carry to Dhoni. "England have to bowl tightly as a unit to create pressure," warns Boycs, but they've still got some batting to be done here. Root prods the ball to point but a tumbling stop by the athletic Virat Kohli denies England a run.

While Geoff Boycott on TMS has a bit of a moan about "cheats" in football (having been sparked by Sharma's lack of knowledge of the lbw law), Swann moves to 24 with an edge for two and a single off Jadeja.

I think Dhoni's found a new way to slow the over-rate down - wait for both batsmen to put caps on, then bring Ishant Sharma back into the attack so they have to summon their helmets again! For that is what's happened - Swann has to defend against the tall seamer, digging out a couple of yorkers before squeezing a quick single to square leg. Root's hit on the pad, Sharma appeals, but it looks as though there was an inside edge on that one - and it hit him outside the line of off stump (although that wasn't enough to save Cook yesterday, if you remember).

With spin on at both ends, Root's back in his cap, and plays out a maiden from Jadeja.

Music fans (and fans of certain iconic US freeways) who've been hanging on throughout the lunch interval will be pleased to see off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surrender a single to Root - making him Root 66. Swann rotates the strike, and a single at the end of the over makes it Root 67.

Ravindra Jadeja, who's still not changed his mud-encrusted shirt from the morning session (see Vic's comparison of him to a rugby player earlier), will toss up the first over of the afternoon session - and for those of you who note such things, Swann is now batting in a cap (with Root in a helmet). The Notts man plays out a maiden to begin the session.

With lunch approaching, Root blocks out a maiden from Jadeja. Probably time to get a couple more overs of spin in?

Root dabs Ashwin for a single to third man, removing his helmet (which he re-donned when Sharma came on) to wipe his brow between deliveries. And at the end of the over, he summons the 12th man to bring his cap back on.

Swann is patiently defensive against Jadeja, eventually cutting loose on the last ball of the over when he advances down the track and lofts another four over mid-on's head. "I wonder what Sehwag will do on this pitch," ponders Vic on TMS.

Joe Root, who's now trending on Twitter in the UK, adds another double to his score with a push through the covers against Ashwin, before a single to third man takes him to 64. Swann steers a two through the covers, then pushes a quick single - Root dives to make his ground, he looks in as the throw hit the stumps but umpire Rod Tucker gives his third-umpire colleague S Ravi something to do (with no DRS in this series, third umpires are rather under-employed) for a belt-and-braces confirmation that Root is not out.

Jadeja replaces fellow left-armer Ojha, and Swann defends a rapid two-minute maiden over.

Ashwin returns, Root reverse-sweeps and misses - "he was all 'Yorkshire opener' for the first couple of hours, now he's reverse-sweeping and everything," notes Vic on TMS. Meanwhile, Simon Mann noticed Jonathan Trott having a trundle in practice this morning with his right-arm medium pace - he will be England's putative third seamer, after all. Ashwin, bowling round the wicket, completes a maiden as Root remains on 61.

We've got just over 20 minutes until lunch, which is due at 0600 GMT - while Vic Marks on TMS thinks Monty Panesar will be happier bowling on this pitch than Graeme Swann, but the latter has some batting to do first, dragging Ojha from outside off stump over mid-on for four! He has 12.

Ojha bowls, Root gets his sweep shot out of the locker again, Jadeja gives chase and they come back for the third run. Swann edges the last ball for four past the solitary slip.

Meanwhile, Geoff Boycott on TMS fumes about umpire Barrie Meyer giving him out in a Test in 1981. "I've seen him for donkey's years, and I still tell him I wasn't out - I was two foot out of my crease," fumes Boycs. And personally, I'd like to add to umpire Meyer's charge sheet: not giving Gooch run out and costing Hampshire the NatWest semi-final in 1985. Hants fans will remember.

The TV pictures show the England viewing area - James Anderson is padded up, while someone points out to Monty Panesar that he might want to start getting his batting gear on, and he disappears back into the room. Root moves to 57 with a single, Sharma is still looking for the inswing against Swann, who keeps picking out Cheteshwar Pujara, the "junior Wall" at cover.

Root, on 51, suddenly finds himself the senior partner after losing Prior and Bres in quick succession, but loft-sweeps Ojha for four to bring up the 250 for England. In Isaac's "Deal or No Deal" scenario, I think England might deal if the bankers offers them 300.

Graeme Swann is the new batsman - now, he tends to prefer hitting a breezy 20 or 30 to knuckling down in a crisis (having thrown his wicket away with a switch-hit in Ahmedabad), but will his arrival at the crease mean Root plays more positively? Swann is off the mark as Sharma strays onto middle and leg, and the Notts man whips him through mid-wicket for four.

So, Prior joins Trott in having been "bowled Drinks Break" in this innings. The new batsman is the helmeted Tim Bresnan, who's the non-striker as his Yorkshire team-mate Root defends against Ojha. "He may have just played himself into the first Test in New Zealand," opines Geoffrey on TMS. Maiden over.

Ojha wheels away for another over, Prior dutifully plays out six dot balls - Ojha has figures of 30-10-55-0.

Well, peel my lemons, Joe Root has also donned a cap between overs, although his is a brand-new-straight-out-of-the-box one, as befits a debutant, while Prior's cap is so well-worn you'd suspect he's had the same one for his entire career (he's in his 62nd Test). Root and Prior help themselves to a single apiece against the largely unthreatening Chawla.

Here's something a bit retro - with spinners on at both ends, Matt Prior has swapped his helmet for a dark blue England cap. You don't see that too often - anyone remember the last England batsman to bat in a cap? Tweet us if you know. I remember Flintoff doing it on the subcontinent a few years ago... Root and Prior add a single apiece, Root flicks another to fine leg, and Prior puts the "cap" on the over by cutting the last ball for a single - he has 48, Root has 47.

As Vic mentioned, it's a new bowler, same action as Pragyan Ojha replaces fellow left-arm spinner Jadeja. Root continues his steady progress with a single, Prior is on the defensive, while Virender Sehwag at slip has one pair of sunglasses over his eyes, and another on top of his sunhat. This stand is now worth 86 - Samit Patel is on 12th man duty, bringing the England batsmen a sneaky drink between overs.

Root drills Chawla for a single, Prior nurdles a scampered two to fine leg then aims a savage cut shot and gets a low inside edge which hits the inside of keeper Dhoni's knee.

Jadeja jogs in for his fifth over of the morning, but he floats in one that's short and wide, and gets the treatment it deserves from Prior who swipes it through the covers for four. It's cat and mouse for the sixth-wicket pair who keep overtaking each other - Prior now has 44, with Root on 43.

Sharma takes a rest as leg-spinner Piyush Chawla is back into the attack. He was the most expensive of the five bowlers yesterday (in terms of runs per over). Slip, short leg and short cover in for the right-handed Root, who moves into the 40s as he steps back and chops a four through backward point.

Jadeja spins down his 29th over to Root, who helps himself to a single. Jadeja - really in this side as a part-time spinner - has been the most used of India's four twirlers, taking 2-39.

Rahul Dravid explains on TMS that when Indians switch between speaking Hindi and English, as Dhoni does during press conferences, it's known as "Hinglish" as there are a lot of cricketing phrases and terminology that don't translate well. Root moves to 38 with a confident push through the covers, then Prior gets an edge... it doesn't quite carry to Dhoni, who gets half a glove to it, but with no slips in, it sails away for four. The Sussex man has 40, and Sharma's out of luck as the last ball beats Prior's prod and just misses the edge.

Bright sunshine in Nagpur, most of the Indian fielders (including bowler and wicketkeeper) are decked out in an array of designer sunglasses. We have the rare sight of a silly point in, Root jabs a quick single to mid-wicket where the lumbering Sharma's throw is as wild as his haircut, and Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar gets a huge ovation for backing up the throw. Six runs in 20 minutes, it looks like another one of those days?

Prior is watchful against Sharma, playing out a maiden, while Aggers recalls another slow batting day for England, during that Test in Sri Lanka where he had to broadcast from the top of the fort in Galle, and Marvan Atapattu scored a very slow double century. "Alec Stewart was lbw to Jayasuriya, and it was the worst lbw decision I've ever seen on a cricket field - it pitched in the rough outside leg stump and was given out," Aggers explains.

Jadeja gets a bit of turn, we didn't see much of that yesterday, and Root gets two off the edge down to third man as he closes the face of the bat, moving to 34. That's 100 overs up for England.

India begin with the "big hair from both ends" tactic as the wild-haired Ishant Sharma, their only seam bowler in this Test, takes the second over of the day. Aggers has spotted India's biggest fan - you know the fellow, paints his entire head and body in the colours of the Indian flag and is there at every match waving an enormous flag - and Rahul Dravid is embarrassed not to know the guy's name. Prior knocks a single to third man, Root dabs one into the covers off the last ball.

Matt Prior, whose beard looks like it's been trimmed down to stubble, gets England going with a single off his legs to bring up the 200 for the tourists. There's a slip and a couple of short(ish) covers in for Jadeja, as India are looking to continue to stifle England's run production as they did yesterday.