Test previews / Ed Hawkins / 12 December 2008 / Leave a comment

It's been very much England's day today with the fall of six big Indian wickets and England now the favourites to take first blood. Ed Hawkins talks us through it all...

The phrase 'the pitch was a great leveller' is normally reserved for FA Cup ties where a collection of plumbers, builders and postmen stun a collection of millionaire playboys. It was not supposed to be relevant for the first Test in Chennai but if England, who look big at [2.36] pull off a surprise win, India captain MS Dhoni might utter it.

It is doing England's players a disservice to compare them to non-league footballers -the playboy description for the hosts might not be far wrong - but make no mistake, victory at the MA Chidambaram stadium will rank as a major shock.

England had been written off in this Test because of disruption to their preparation, not to mention the fact that they faced a side who had just humbled them 5-0 in a one-day series and had previously outplayed Australia.

Although confidence had all but eroded, it is the crumbling Chennai pitch which could restore faith. By reducing India to 155-6, still 161 runs ahead on first innings, England should be capable of setting the home team a target which proves beyond them on what will be a difficult batting surface.

The state of the wicket has fascinated players and pundits alike on the first two days. From day one we have seen uneven bounce for the pacemen while every spinner - and Harbhajan Singh and Graeme Swann are at different ends of the spectrum - has extracted turn and spit.

It is unlikely to get any better. Where batsmen scratch around in the crease the red clay underneath has been revealed, acting as a warning sign of the dangers to come. The dark footholes where the bowlers have landed offer something just as stark.

With England needing four more wickets, they should inflict a first innings loss on India for the second time in their last ten Tests at home. They lost one of those matches. On the last five occasions India have conceded a lead of 100 runs or fewer, they have lost only once but it is doubtful they were on wickets as poor as this one.

Remember that Ed Hawkins will be giving you a live commentary of all the action from 08.30 am on Saturday morning.