England were staring at a near-certain series defeat after Yuvraj Singh put India in firm control of the final Test in Mohali.
Yuvraj's powerful hitting meant India ended day four with the initiative, and if the home side miss out on victory on Tuesday then a draw appears the worst they can do.
The all-rounder hit an unbeaten 39 off 40 balls to guide India into a 285-run lead on 134 for four by the end of play at the PCA Stadium, providing some badly-needed impetus to an innings which was in danger of becoming subdued by England's seamers. Opener Gautam Gambhir is six runs short of a half-century.
Despite establishing a 151-run first-innings lead after ending England's innings in just 44 minutes during the morning session, India seemed more intent on preserving their 1-0 lead in the series rather than pushing on and giving themselves enough of an advantage to earn more time to bowl themselves to victory.
Racing to 30 without loss in just six overs, India then lost the appetite for the attacking cricket which set up their series win over Australia and their stunning first Test triumph over England in Chennai.
As soon as opener Virender Sehwag ran himself out attempting to pinch a quick single, India withdrew into their shells and were happy to bat out time against England's impressive trio of seamers.
Rahul Dravid struggled for 19 balls before being dismissed for a duck when a full-length delivery from Stuart Broad kept low and breached his defences, and Sachin Tendulkar fended a short ball from James Anderson to gully.
Those wickets only encouraged India to retreat more into defensive mode and between Sehwag's dismissal and the run out of VVS Laxman, brilliantly dismissed by a pick up and throw from Andrew Flintoff at cover, India were happy to add only 50 runs in 33 overs.
Utilising reverse swing successfully for the first time in the series, Anderson in particular was a revelation and recovered from conceding 23 runs in his first three overs to finish with impressive figures of one for 32 from 15 overs.
However, in the 11 overs between Yuvraj arriving at the crease and bad light ending play prematurely, India added 54 runs with their charismatic all-rounder contributing the lion's share of them.
