England were set for a tough battle to save the third Test after Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin put India firmly back in control.

Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid helped the tourists hit back on the second afternoon in Mohali to reduce India to 156 for five in reply to 283 all out.

But Jadeja (90) and Ashwin (72) responded with a stand of 97 as the hosts piled up an eventual 417 all out - and a lead of 134 - by tea on day three after the former put on another 80 for the eighth wicket with Jayant Yadav (55).

Numbers seven, eight and nine all passed 50 for the first time in India's history, as England's prospects of squaring the series here receded dramatically - and avoiding a 2-0 deficit with two to play was going to be far from easy either.

India resumed still marginally in arrears on 271 for six but found easy pickings against Chris Woakes, surprisingly bowling in tandem initially with Moeen Ali rather than James Anderson - an odd deployment of a ball only five overs old.

It took the re-introduction of Stokes (five for 73) to break the seventh-wicket stand, the all-rounder striking in his first over as he had the previous day - when Ashwin drove a wide delivery on the up and was caught at point.

He had done plenty of damage by then, though, with 11 boundaries in a near three-hour innings which put India back on top in a fluctuating contest.

Jadeja duly completed his 50 and moved on to a career-best as he and Jayant extended the advantage in another telling partnership.

Damage limitation was the only course left after lunch for England, who chose Woakes to bowl wide lines to a packed off-side field at one end and Gareth Batty round the wicket to a leg-side ring at the other.

But Jadeja took it on, with three successive boundaries off Woakes - stepping outside off to drive past mid-on twice and flail the width through point in between - and he was on course for a maiden Test hundred until he got greedy against Rashid (four for 118).

The leg-spinner deserved minor credit for making the left-hander fetch him for an attempted big hit over long-on, where Woakes was characteristically safe under a high ball to end a 170-ball innings which had contained 10 fours and a six.

It was Umesh Yadav who would then bring up India's 400 with a slog-swept six off Moeen, and Jayant celebrated by pushing a single in the next over to bring up his maiden Test 50.

Insult was yet to be added to injury, for Stokes especially, when Alastair Cook dropped Umesh at slip on nine - and then two balls later Jayant edged just out of Jonny Bairstow's reach to go from 51 to 55.