England were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat as Ravichandran Ashwin's century left them chasing a world record 482 in the fourth innings of the second Test.
India were eventually bowled out for 286 on the third evening, putting some of the more dramatic criticisms of the pitch in context, with Ashwin hitting a breezy 106 on his home ground with 14 fours and a six.
That is not to say the sharp turning pitch will not see England come a cropper, with Ashwin queuing up to do the damage with his relentless spin, but any suggestions that the surface is unfit for Test cricket do not tally with the way India have batted on it.
But, having been dismissed for 134 in their first innings, the idea of England pulling off a chase 64 higher than any other team has ever managed in the same conditions seems fanciful.
England's spinners picked up some morale-boosting wickets, despite the oppressive match situation, as Moeen Ali and Jack Leach took eight between them.
Even more impressive was Ben Foakes, who marked his 28th birthday by showing on the big stage just why he is rated one of the best wicketkeepers in the world.
Having already top-scored from number seven on his first appearance in two years, the Surrey player completed two brilliant stumpings and an early run out on a pitch that made standing up to the stumps a desperately tricky affair.
With one earlier stumping already in the bag, Foakes became the first England keeper since Alan Knott in 1968 to take three in a match. The rested Jos Buttler, by way of contrast, has one in 50 caps.
Ashwin had his own way, using a big stride to smother the turn and scoring well with the sweep. Both men passed 50 in the afternoon session, Ashwin for the sixth time in a match where he also boasted a five-for.
Kohli was undone by Moeen for the second time in the match, a tight lbw decision high on the knee roll, and the all-rounder struck Kuldeep Yadav in front of middle to claim a fourth.
Ashwin continued to pepper the boundaries, swatting the seamers and milking the spinners and had a life of 70 when an inside edge bounced out of Foakes' glove taking both caught behind and stumped out of the equation.
He was last man out for 106, dragging into his stumps to give Olly Stone a late success.
