In pics: Rishabh Pant's 50, Axar Patel getting Joe Root as his maiden Test wicket - Day 2 moments in Chennai

India were losing wickets on a difficult surface, but Rishabh Pant started going after spinners Moeen Ali and Joe Root, hitting them for boundaries.

Pant was left stranded at 58* after India were bowled out for 329, but his innings was praised by many. Speaking to Stars Sports during the Lunch break, Sunil Gavaskar said that Pant read the situation well.

"Another half-century from him, he was very smart about it. Very smart about the way he went today because he lost Axar Patel pretty soon," he said.

"But then he decided he would go after Moeen Ali, converted deliveries into full-tosses, and clobbered them and get to a half-century. On a pitch like this, he would not have lower-order batsmen stay with him for long, so he read the situation so well, that he attacked it at the right time, was pushing the last couple of deliveries for a single, and keep the strike.

"Very good thinking, and it's so nice to see in a youngster. He was not just hitting it blindly. He was calculating when he should be hitting and when he should be taking a single," Gavaskar signed off.

India put on 329 runs on the board thanks to Rohit Sharma who top-scored in their first innings with 161, while Ajinkya Rahane (67) and Rishabh Pant (58 not out) struck half-centuries. 

India, in 7.5 overs scored only 29 runs and lost 4 wickets, with most of the scoring done by Pant. He was left stranded on 58 with no help from his partners. 

Moeen Ali started the day with two wickets of Axar Patel and Ishant Sharma. Another two-wicket burst from Olly Stone which signalled the end of India's innings. 

India all-rounder Axar Patel, who made his debut in the second Test in Chennai against England, dismissed the visitor's skipper Joe Root.

The English captain who had scored a double ton in the first Test was sent back cheaply for 6 by the spinner. This marked Patel's maiden Test wicket. 

The ball landed into one of those pits and it kicked up and turned away massively. Root was going for the sweep but lost balance and he offered a top edge to short fine leg where R Ashwin was standing. 

Ravichandran Ashwin's five-wicket haul helped India end England's first innings on 134 runs before the hosts' began to extend their lead over the visitors.

Ashwin removed Sibley (16), Lawrence (9), Stokes (18), Stone (1), Broad (0).

At stumps, India's score read 54/1, with Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara on the field. The hosts enjoy a 249-run lead and will look to add more runs to give themselves the best chance of winning the match.

India saw Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill scoring regular boundaries but Jack Leach provided England with the first breakthrough. He got hold of Gill (14) in the 12th over.

Pujara then took the field and played cautiously, along with Rohit, to ensure India do not lose more wickets on the day.