England's batsmen were told they simply are 'not good enough' in Indian conditions after being fired out for just 205 on day one.
Joe Root won another toss and asked his batting heavy side to pile on the runs on a blameless surface, but instead it was India piling on the pressure throughout the day.
A well made 55 from Ben Stokes, who had recovered from a tummy bug to take his place in the side, and 46 from the recalled Dan Lawrence, batting at 7 were the highlights.
But fans were left frustrated yet again as Axar Patel and Ravi Ashwin did yet more damage with the spinning ball, while Mohammed Siraj added some spice with his seam.
“It is scarcely believable,” said former skipper Sir Andrew Strauss on Channel 4 after watching openers Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley depart early.
“England are making the same mistakes they have made throughout the whole series. The non-turning ball has left them non-plussed.
“Let's not hide away from the truth. England's batting quite frankly is not good enough in these conditions.
“You can talk about the pitch and about the ball and about anything else, but you have to find a way to score first innings runs and they have got very few to play with.
Despite losing three early wickets to the spin of Patel and the pace of Siraj, England looked like they were up for the fight.
Even when Siraj and his captain Virat Kohli tried to goad Stokes into a flashpoint that required the umpire's to step in and keep a lid on things, it didn't work, initially.
Stokes kept his cool and used the moment to motivate him to a 24 th Test fifty sprinkled with moments of aggression and a well trusted defence.
But whenever England looked like getting themselves back on level terms or even nudging ahead, India's bowlers would strike and bring them back into line.
There were middle order partnerships of 48, 43 and 45 with Ollie Pope chipping in with 29 showed that runs were there to be scored, but no-one could go on and make the ruthless score England needed.
James Anderson struck back in the first over of India's reply by trapping Shubman Gill lbw for a duck, but at 24-1 at the close there is plenty more required.
