Mumbai: Monty Panesar is hoping that they can restrict India within 300 on the second morning to open up England’s chances in this Test.

The left-arm spinner admitted that the Cheteshwar Pujara-Ravichandran Ashwin partnership had given the Indian innings momentum in the final session on Friday.

“If we restrict them to under 300 tomorrow (Saturday) morning, then that will be good for us,” he said. “It’s that kind of partnership which has given a bit of momentum to the Indian innings. I don’t think they expected us to really dominate the first two sessions like that.”

“There is still plenty of turn in the wicket,” he said. “Swanny (Graeme Swann) and I bowled well in tandem and provided each other with a platform. There is a lot of turn and bounce in the wicket.”

Pujara, Ashwin wrest back initiative from England

Panesar, who took four for 91 on Day 1, admitted that he was a bit disappointed after being overlooked in Ahmedabad. “Yeah, there was disappointment… But I’m happy to be playing in Mumbai. I had the experience of bowling with the new ball in Dubai against Pakistan."

“I was prepared for that and it’s something that I enjoy. It’s a new thing for me but I do enjoy bowling with the new ball."

“Especially early on, we applied a lot of pressure on the Indian batsmen… The Indian team did not expect it. They won the toss and batted, and thought they would be 300-plus with not many wickets down."

“To have them five wickets down for not many runs was testament to how much pressure we applied on them.”

He credited England’s spin bowling coach and former Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed for helping him counter the challenges here.

“Mushy bhai has been very valuable for us… He has played a lot of cricket in the subcontinent and he understands the rhythm of the game out here.”

Getting Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket with a beauty, he said, was the best of his four wickets.

“Sachin’s the Prince of India… I was delighted at taking that wicket."