Ashwin strikes ignite India fightback

It was left to Ravichandran Ashwin to keep India afloat in the fourth Test against England after the hosts, not for the first time, generously allowed a debutant batsman from the opposition to break free.

Keaton Jennings became the fifth visiting batsman in the last 12 years to score a century on debut in India - a list that also included his captain Alastair Cook - before Ashwin chipped in with three late strikes to partially even matters.

From 2-230 England slipped to 5-249 before Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler steered the tourists to 5-288 by stumps on an enthralling opening day at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Full scorecard: India v England, fourth Test

For the first time in the five-match series, which India leads 2-0, a dry pitch assisted turn and bounce from the start, giving England a massive advantage after Cook won the toss and batted first.

Left-handed opener Jennings (112) was let off before he had scored when Karun Nair spilled a difficult chance high to his left at gully off fast bowler Umesh Yadav.

Then on 10, Jennings survived a DRS review by Indian captain Virat Kohli after umpire Bruce Oxenford turned down a confident shout for leg-before by seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Replays showed the ball hitting the stumps but the point of contact outside the off-stump was given as 'umpire's call'.

Wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel missed stumping Joe Root off Ravindra Jadeja, but the let-off did not prove expensive as the England vice-captain was caught at slip by Kohli in Ashwin's next over for 21.

The off-spinner, who turned the game around after tea by removing Moeen Ali, Jennings and Jonny Bairstow in the space of five overs, said one more wicket before stumps would have been ideal.

Ashwin said he was reminded of the first day's play in the 2012 Test at the Wankhede Stadium which Cook's side won by 10 wickets.

In that game, India won the toss and scored 327, England replied with 413 and then bowled the hosts out for 142 in the second innings. Spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann shared 19 of the 20 wickets.

"That time, the ball spun a bit on the first day but the pitch was absolutely flat on day two and day three," said Ashwin, one of the three survivors of that Test alongside Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara.

"I am seeing very similar traits here. I am just expecting the wicket to play better from now onwards.

"We need to keep them down to 330. If we had got one more wicket tonight that would have been good but we must come out tomorrow and try and snap a few quick wickets."

India ignored uncapped Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur despite pulling them out of ongoing first-class matches to replace the injured Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammad Shami in the squad.

Lokesh Rahul returned to the opener's slot after missing the previous match due to injury, while Kumar replaced Shami.

Ashwin admitted that losing Shami for the key Test on a pitch that assisted bounce was already proving costly.

"Shami has been one of those go-to bowlers to try and break partnerships and close out (an) innings," Ashwin said. "He has been quite fabulous in recent times.

"We definitely missed today. If he had been around we would probably have ended up snapping a few more wickets. But that is how the game goes." 

Ashwin wished Australian umpire Paul Reiffel a quick recovery after he was hit on the back of the head by a throw from Kumar during the post-lunch session.

Reiffel, who was standing at square-leg, was rushed to hospital where he was later given an all-clear. TV umpire Marais Erasmus substituted for the rest of the day while India's Chettithody Shamshuddin took his place in front of the TV monitors.

"Paul was definitely rattled after he got hit," said Ashwin. "Those are instances which look funny from a distance but he was definitely rattled."