Sawt Falasteen - India reach 388-7 to frustrate England in third Test

Ashwin, on 25, and debutant wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, on 31, were batting at the break in an unbeaten stand of 57 after India began the day in Rajkot on 326-5.

Ashwin was reprimanded by on-field umpire Joel Wilson for running in the danger area of the pitch and England will begin their innings on 5-0 as a result.

Ashwin and Jurel batted with patience and occasional boundaries to tackle a persistent England attack which was rotated by skipper Ben Stokes in his landmark 100th Test.

Fast bowler James Anderson struck first to get nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav caught behind for four. Anderson moved to 696 Test wickets over 185 matches since his debut in 2003.

The 41-year-old seamer is poised to become only the third bowler in history to reach 700 wickets after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and late Australian spin wizard Shane Warne (708).

Ashwin needs one more to reach 500 Test wickets.

Part-time spinner Joe Root took overnight centurion Ravindra Jadeja caught and bowled on 112 as the hosts lost two wickets in the first five overs of the day.

The five-Test series is level at 1-1 after England won the opener in Hyderabad and India bounced back in the second match.

S.Barghouti--SF-PST