Shubman Gill brought up his fourth Test ton.

Rohit Sharma (102*) and Shubman Gill (101*) both brought up their second tons of the series as India galloped into the lead in a fast-paced morning session on day two of the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala. In what was only the second wicketless session of the entire series, the home side racked up 129 runs at a healthy scoring rate of 4.3 runs per over. For a major part of the session, the pair scored at a rate of 5 runs-per-over or more with a swashbuckling approach to rattle England's bowlers. The last 10 overs before the break saw relative caution as both batters were nearing their milestones, thereby minimising risks, although there were big shots hit even then.

Intentions were clear right from the start of the session that Rohit and Gill weren't going to let England's bowlers settle. Rohit started off the onslaught with a six and a four off Shoaib Bashir who got a pasting in the session from both batters. Gill joined in on the act soon enough with those trademark back foot strokes on either side of the wicket. When the spinners erred in length, he was also quick to dance down and hoist them into the stands. Taken aback by India's approach, Ben Stokes had to try alternate plans and eventually resorted to the short ball ploy as well but in vain.

Known for his prowess on the hook and pull shots, Rohit made merry against Mark Wood. His partner, who also enjoys playing off the back foot, capitalised on the scoring opportunities that came his way. Barring a couple of edges that narrowly sneaked through the slip cordon, neither batter offered chances in what was a near flawless session for India. The surface also seems to have eased out in comparison to yesterday morning when there was a bit of help in there for the seamers.

Having gotten past their milestones, Rohit and Gill will now look to blunt England further as India seek to ensure that they bat just once in the game. The morning session means that it is a long way back for England now in this game, unless they can have an incredibly good two sessions today.

Brief scores:India 264/1 (Rohit Sharma 102*, Shubman Gill 101*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 57) lead by England218 (Zak Crawley 79; Kuldeep Yadav 5-72, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-51) by 46 runs