The flat wicket at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday made it hard for the Indian bowlers to go for the wickets and instead they have been forced to bowl defensively and wait for the batsmen to make mistakes, said India left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.
Nadeem took the wickets of Joe Root and Ben Stokes but not before the two shared a 124-run partnership - out of which Ben Stokes made 82, to drive England ahead. The visitors finished on 555 for eight wickets at the end of the second day.
"To bowl in the right areas was the plan (on this pitch). If you go for wickets, then you tend to give runs. The plan was to bowl in good areas and if the batsmen play some bad shots then you have a chance to get wickets. My plan was also the same," said Nadeem who admitted to struggling against Joe Root's sweep shots.
"Root is a very good batsman. He has been in form of late. He is sweeping really well. So to bowl to him you have to plan to stay on the stumps and not bowl away from stumps. It becomes a problem when a batsman starts sweeping but at the same time you have to stick to your line and length and wait for batsman to make mistakes," he added.
"There has not been much change in the wicket. There is just a rough, which is on the left (of the batsman) that can trouble but in the centre it is still good."
The 31-year-old spinner said on Saturday that he struggled with his delivery stride because he was jumping a bit late. Nadeem bowled six no balls out of the 19 India bowled over the two days.
"I feel I am jumping a bit late. I should be jumping well before the crease but I think I am jumping a bit late. That is why the problem existed. Yesterday it was more, today it was a bit less. Planning to work on that in the nets," he explained.
Nadeem, who is playing just his second Test said that Ishant Sharma's wickets of Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer were very crucial.
"If we wouldn't have got those wickets, those batsmen would have still been batting. Two bowlers batting can be called an upper hand," he said and also explained why India are still in the game.
"We have to get them out as early as possible. The pitch is still very good for batting. I am sure our batsmen will also score a big total," he added.
