CRICKETIndia v England, Second Test REDS ALERT Copper-tops Stokes & Bairstow show you CAN bat against spin

for how to bat on this Vizag pitch against the best spinners in the world.

The copper- topped duo added 110 for the sixth wicket in England’s 255 all out, the most successful partnership for the side this year.

In just seven innings they have put on 772 runs together, t he highlight t he epic boundary-fest in Cape Town.

“It’s difficult to put our success down to a specific thing,” said Bairstow after his 53. “We complement each other being left and right handed which helps and we rotate the strike pretty well. “We calm each other down too, which is probably hard to believe from two redheads.

“The chat and the confidence we give each other seems to work nicely. It’s just a combination of everything that we do that seems to work.

“Sometimes you just have to let him go, like at Cape Town, and sometimes it is just a case of having to rein each other in, like here.”

There were no shades of South Africa this time as they applied themselves with great skill to show their team-mates what can be done.

“We needed to show a bit more fight and we’ll need to show fight for the rest of the game and the rest of the tour,” added wicketkeeper Bairstow. “But I think there are definitely runs to be had on this pitch.

“It will take a couple of special knocks but the way Virat has gone shows that it can be done.

“You’ve just got to grit your teeth and crack on.”

Kohli has made batting look easy so far, but has not had to contend with his own spinners. They have been a cut above England’s, Ravi Ashwin’s 5-67 his 22nd five-wicket haul.

Off-spinner Jayant Yadav said: “There’s variable bounce, some balls turning and some going straight so it’s going to be very tough for England.”