Jack Leach has been tipped as England’s potential match-winner on the final day of the first Test against India, after proving he has not been scarred by a barrage of sixes off the bat of Rishabh Pant.

England have been ahead of the game for the vast majority of the series opener in Chennai and head into the fifth morning needing nine wickets to claim victory, with a huge lead of 380 to play with.

The only stage where India have really threatened to flip the momentum came when Pant went on the counter-attack in India’s first innings and smashed Leach for five sixes on his way to 91 – including four in the space of just seven deliveries.

India paceman Ishant Sharma is confident his side’s “fearless” batting line-up can pull off an unlikely win.

He told Channel 4: “It all depends how we start tomorrow. If we get a good start then I’m sure we can chase this down because we have a batting line-up who are very fearless.

“We are very positive about this, so it’s about the start.”