Home town boy revels in familiar setting

Three days of attritional Test cricket reminiscent of eras gone by has set the stage for a keen finish to the first encounter of what promises to be an enthralling five-match series between India and England.

If England dominated the first two days at Rajkot by piling up a massive 537 in good batting conditions, centuries from Murali Vijay and local boy Cheteshwar Pujara on the third day fuelled India's reply.

Pujara scored 124 and Vijay made 126 during a 211-run stand to lift the hosts to a commanding 1-277 before England hit back with three wickets in the final session.

India will resume today  4-319 – still 218 runs behind – but with inspirational captain Virat Kohli at the crease on 26 and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane to come in next, Pujara was hopeful that the tables could still be turned on the visitors.

"We definitely have a chance to win this game," Pujara said after being greeted by a cheering group of family and friends that included his father Arvind and wife Pooja.

"We batted well today and even though we lost quick wickets after tea, I think we are in a good position in this Test.

"The first target will obviously be to get near their total, which will open up the game. The wicket has been good for batting but it has already started to take turn due to wear and tear.

"Batting on day five will not be easy for England."

Pujara and Vijay came to the crease in the day's second over after Gautam Gambhir was trapped leg-before by Stuart Broad, and stayed together till an hour after tea.

Celebrating back-to-back Test centuries -- he hit an unbeaten 101 against New Zealand in the third Test at Indore last month -- Pujara attributed his success to Vijay.

"Vijay is an excellent batsman and a great guy to have at the other end," he said.

"Both of us communicate well and we understand each other's strengths.

"We spend a lot of time together off the field as well, talking about the game and discussing this format."

Making their bond stronger is the fact that both Vijay and Pujara are regarded as Test specialists by the selectors, with no role to play in limited-overs cricket.

While Vijay has played 43 Tests so far since his debut in 2008, he has appeared in just 17 ODIs and nine Twenty20 internationals. Pujara's limited-overs experience includes just five ODIs after 39 Tests.

The DRS came to Pujara's rescue when he was 14 runs away from his ninth Test century. He was given out leg-before off spinner Zafar Ansari by umpire Chris Gaffaney, but a review by the batsman showed the ball would have gone over the stumps.

Pujara was delighted to score a hundred in his home town's maiden Test match.

"It really means a lot to get a century in Rajkot," he said.

"I have grown up in this city and even scored a triple century in domestic cricket here.

"There were a few nerves for sure because my family and friends were watching and the people of this city too expected big things from me.

"But I told myself to just focus on the job at hand. Things turned out well in the end."