9.33 am So India needed only five balls to pick up the last Australian wicket. A total of 260 is pretty decent on this pitch. Poor Umesh though. Made all the important inroads yesterday, looked set for his first five-wicket haul in over five years but has to settle for 4 for 32. R Ashwin, with his 64th wicket, has taken the most wickets in a home season for India beating Kapil Dev's record of 63.

Cam: "@Mark - the key for the spinners on this pitch is control. Jadeja and Ashwin bowled with amazing control and got rewarded. Jayant was very loose and got punished. Swepson bowls too many loose balls at the moment and is not quite ready. Picking Lyon and O'Keefe was the right call, it's just whether they can bowl well enough now. I'm not convinced they can but are our best options"

9.25 am India get into their huddle, with Virat Kohli leading the team talk. Everyone looks quite composed really. Seems they're not worried about the total Australia have up - 256 on a turner. Mitchell Starc will take strike for the first ball of the day. It will, of course, be spin to start. R Ashwin to take the ball away from the two left-handers.

Selva: "So according to Rahul's binary form (either a ton or a single digit) , he will score a ton today. He missed out against Bangladesh in his last test."

Aravind: "1. Ditched RCB on the eve of the IPL auction 2. Scored a rapid and vital fifty to haul Australia to a safer zone from 205/9 3. (would have) bowled brilliantly at the openers and removed at least one of them cheaply Multiple reasons to look forward to the Starc-Kohli contest today :)"

Mark: "I think the risk for Australia is India scoring fast runs. Starc has shown if you go for your shots, you can be rewarded. Lyon has only once that I remember ever bowled a team out on a spinning pitch. Poor selection for me. I think Swepson deserved a chance. India to score 350-400."

9.15 am Some reading material to keep you folks whilst I smuggle some coffee and other stuff that will help wake me up for the day ahead. First, a former India opener's views on the current Australian opener's skills - Aakash Chopra on 20-year old Matt Renshaw. And then treat yourself to Sidharth Monga running the rule over Umesh Yadav, who with his reverse swing and sharp pace did most of the damage on a pitch that was never meant for him.

Considering the spotlight on the pitch, here is Jarrod Kimber wondering whether the nine Australian wickets that fell were the result of demons underfoot. (Hint: he doesn't think so). And let's wrap things up with Ask Sanjay, ESPNcricnfo's Match Day segment that collects questions from the fans and puts them to Sanjay Manjrekar. Oh, lest I forget, the highly hilarious #PoliteEnquiries, with Melinda Farrell and JRod.

RKM: "Two major perplexities reading the early comments today. With Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant in the side and the type of batsmanship they have shown on third and even fourth day pitches, I am rather surprised to hear comments about India having only five batsmen. Perhaps, memories are terribly short in the digital age Second, quite strange to note that "people's perception" about the pitch is even worth talking of. It's the 22 players out there who count. Luckily, Jarrod's piece yesterday, spoke eloquently about how such player perceptions had a telling effect on the day's play." Well, RKM, collapses don't tend to differentiate between batsmen and allrounders. India do have a scary line-up but it is still comprised of five specialist batsmen, no more, at least not yet.

Piyush: "Australian pacers must have been delighted by looking at the amount of reverse swing happened yesterday. They certainly have a chance to restrict India from getting a big total and given the fact that India will have to play 4th innings, they can actual think about the prospects of winning this test match."

"Wonder if the crowd will get into the Lyon-Wade "Niiiiice, Garrrry" riff! Lyon will be the key today for AUS." I really wouldn't bet on that, Harold. He could belie state loyalties back home, but in Pune, with Virat Kohli in line to bat, that's a no contest.

Asher: "Plenty of commentators saying yesterday was Australia's day. I strongly disagree. Our top five fell to poor concentration rather than any demons in the pitch. I wouldn't be surprised if the Indian batsmen come out and make batting look easy. Every run here from Starc and Hazlewood will be critical."

Aditya Talesara: "A left arm seamer of Starc's class againt India's top 7 right hand batsman. This could be a thriller."

9.00 am It's hot. It's dry. And it's paradise for the spinners, but will they be allowed to bowl where they want to? India will be batting for most of today, and they've got some fine players of the turning ball - in that they do not premeditate their movements and yet try to dominate them.

Will that then change people's perception of the pitch Possibly not. It's still cracked, it's still the kind where a straight line drawn on it turns into a semi-circle. Some of its bite might go away when the roller is put to it at the start of this day and then at the change of innings.

But Australia have a total on the board and considering India are going in with five batsmen and a wicketkeeper, quick strikes - as had happened yesterday - could well put the hosts in big trouble. Hello and welcome to day two of the first Test between India and Australia in Pune.

4.34pm Whose day was that? I really can't say, it's been that close. Normally, 256 for 9 is the bowling side's day. But this surface is a raging turner. After Australia chose to bat, they were done no harm by their openers who played really well in the morning. Warner and Renshaw were terrific. But wickets fell almost regularly in the second half of the day. Renshaw retired ill and came back to score a diligent fifty. Mitchell Starc's cameo has lifted Australia past 250 and into a position of stability. Umesh Yadav was superb in his four-for, providing India plenty of penetration. Can't judge this surface until India bats, and they will bat tomorrow, so join us for that. Until then, ciao.

The day might have ended, but here's more reading material from our friends at ESPN.in.

The medal-less gloom of the 2016 Rio Olympics can be left behind, if Indian shooters make the most what is on offer at the combined rifle pistol and shot gun World Cup in Delhi, with the competition beginning on Friday.

Ravdeep Mehta: "last wicket partnership of 50 runs; Worth Gold....48 runs by Starc and just 1 by Hazlewood!!"

The last over of the day

Prashant: "Should Kohli have continued with old ball. India cannot let Starc to continue tomorrow and add another 20-30 runs"

India won't bat today