Team India was yet again on the verge of a batting failure as the top order failed to get going. Skipper Virat Kohli played a good knock of 50(96) but could not go big and get to the three-figure mark.

All-rounder, Shardul Thakur, on the other hand, batted brilliantly for his 57(36) and took India to a respectable total of 191 in their first innings.

While fans and pundits expecting India batters to step up and bounce back from 78 all-out at Leeds, but it was the same story at The Oval as well.

While English pacers ran through India’s batting unit with the swinging ball, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar during his interaction on Sony Sports Network after the end of the day’s play, pointed out a mistake the visiting team should rectify.

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“You see the length that is being bowled and see where the batsmen are playing. They are so far committed to the front foot, it's very difficult for them to drop their bats. They just tend to sort of go for it. If you're on the backfoot just that little bit, you have that nano second to drop your wrists and let the ball go,” Gavaskar said.

The legendary right-hand batsman then admitted that even though this strategy doesn’t make batting look pretty but these measures should be taken to value the wicket and remain at the crease.

“You may look like an idiot but you'd still be batting. Whether you look like an idiot or look great, doesn't go down in the scorebooks. It's the number of runs you score. When you follow the ball like (Cheteshwar) Pujara has been doing - he is committed to the front foot - you get yourself into trouble,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Thus, after being bowled out for 191 in the first innings, the tourists managed to pick up England’s three wickets in the form of Burns (5), Hameed (0) along with the big wicket of in-from English skipper Joe Root (21) as the scoreboard reads 53/3.