India vs England, Second Test match, Day 1: Moments of the day

Two men rose to the occasion on the opening day of the second Test between India and England. While Monty Panesar's spin troubled Indian batsmen in each of the three sessions, there was Cheteshwar Pujara whose unbeaten century kept England from completely dominating the day. A look at some of the highlights.

And that dreaded coin, again

When MS Dhoni won the toss in India's Alpha City, Alastair Cook's face flashed on the television and the reaction said it all. At the pitch report, Ravi Shastri's fingers were literally twitching and he exclaimed that "there was grass on the pitch just too keep England from getting demoralised". They gave one verdict very early - "the pitch is going to crumble very quickly". Cook's expression was shown again and this time it looked that there almost was some fear written all over his face.

But Barmy Army fights

A lot had been said, a lot had been written before the second Test. Arguably the world's greatest leg-spinner ever, also termed it all as a part of Dhoni's and India's 'mindgames'. There were reports that BCCI had heeded to captain cool's (who was seemingly unhappy) remarks. And when the "bride's" face was seen, lips were literally shut. England though, were not without their trump card this time. Monty Panesar found a deserved place in the team at the expense of Tim Bresnan.

Before Monty was introduced though, James Anderson had already given Gautam Gambhir more blues, trapping him right in front. And when the Sardar got his chance, in the seventh over, there was a spring in England's step straight away, well almost! Monty first got the 100th 'Test matcher' Virender Sehwag and then home favourite Sachin Tendulkar in quick succession.

That jump, that child-like jubilation

When Monty got Sachin, who incidentally was also the first ever batsman he had dismissed in Test matches, it was a moment to rejoice for all. India though, with two present and future stars in Pujara and Kohli on crease, tried hard to fight back. But Panesar had other ideas. As soon as the teams had 'doused' their hunger, Kohli, who was quite unlike himself (19 off 55 balls), was lured into a floater by Monty.

Soon after, Yuvraj Singh was gobbled up early by Graeme Swann and India were in deep trouble, that after opting to bat.

Captain cool or not

When England had last met India at this very ground in 2006, it was a certain MS Dhoni who had top scored, albeit in a losing cause. A lot would have been expected when India were in trouble yet again today. He scored 29 before falling to Panesar as his fourth victim.

What spin?

Cheteshwar Pujara's approach with the bat seemed like there was nothing dreadful about the dreaded turn on the Wankhede track. He may have been dropped in the slips (on 60) once but it was a class knock from him overall. There also was a slight controversy when Pujara's pull, England felt, hit Alastair Cook on his shoe before popping up and being caught by the fielder at mid-wicket. Replays showed that the ball may have hit the ground first and Pujara (94) survived.

He remained unbeaten at the end of the day's play with R Ashwin giving him superb support from the other end.

(Image courtesy: BCCI)