We have an upper hand after Ishant Sharma's two wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem

England might have piled up a mammoth total in their first innings in Chennai, but Shahbaz Nadeem believes India still have the upper hand in the game. The left-arm spinner pointed out Ishant Sharma's twin strikes late in the day and said they have lifted the morale of the hosts' dressing room.

Courtesy of a superb double hundred by Joe Root, the visitors reached 555 at the loss of 8 wickets at the end of Day 2. They were in prime position to go even bigger, but Ishant Sharma bowled Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer off consecutive deliveries just before stumps to restore some balance in the game.

"Ishant's two wickets were very crucial as he dismissed Buttler and Archer. He took wickets on successive deliveries and this kind of performance obviously uplifts the morale of the side. So I feel those two wickets were important for us as if we did not get those two wickets there would have been a batsman on the crease rather than tailenders. Now, two England bowlers are on the crease, so we can say we have got an upper hand," said Shahbaz Nadeem at the end of day's play.

Shahbaz Nadeem played a crucial role on Saturday. The 31-year-old first broke the threatening 124-run partnership between Root and Ben Stokes by luring the latter into a false shot. He then came back to dismiss the English captain by catching him plumb in front for 218 runs.

Shahbaz Nadeem explains India's bowling strategy on Day 2

Neither the pacers nor the tweakers seemed to get any help from the sluggish Chennai wicket. Shahbaz Nadeem said the hosts came with the defensive plan of bowling tight lines and lengths and waiting for the batsmen to commit mistakes.

"The plan on this wicket should be to bowl on good areas. If you go for the wickets in this pitch, you may get hammered for runs. Our plan was to bowl in good areas and if batsmen make any mistake you might get a wicket," said Shahbaz Nadeem.

The wicket has started to play occasional tricks, but it's still pretty good for the willow-wielders. It will be interesting to see how Indian batsmen pull up their fatigued bodies and go about their business on Saturday.