Another top order collapse put England on the back foot in Mohali as they reached 268-8 at the close of Day One in the third Test.
Jonny Bairstow held the innings together with a superb, patient 89 in his new berth at number five to take his tally of runs in 2016 to 1,340, helping England rally from 87-4 shortly before lunch.
With assistance from the recalled Jos Buttler, who made 43, Bairstow ensured the tourists will at least have something to bowl at on a pitch that is already showing signs of uneven bounce.
Having won the toss, Alastair Cook enjoyed an early reprieve as an edge off Mohammed Shami flashed through the hands of Ravindra Jadeja at third slip. Two balls later the skipper thundered one to the mid-wicket fence to rub salt into the wound.
A watchful start from Haseeb Hameed was interrupted by a good length ball from Umesh Yadav that climbed steeply on the teenager, struck his glove and looped up neatly for Ajinkya Rahane to catch at gully.
Remarkably, Ravi Ashwin then put down a simple chance to dismiss the England captain. Cook could only chip a ball from Shami to mid-wicket but the spinner shelled a regulation catch.
He would make amends though, dismissing Cook with his first ball of the match thanks to a thin edge behind. That was moments after Jayant Yadav removed Joe Root, who tried to pull the first ball after drinks and was trapped plumb in front.
Moeen Ali took 10 from Ashwin in successive balls, one four and one six, both thumped back over the bowler’s head but England were then reduced to 87-4 shortly before lunch as the Worcestershire man hooked a Shami bouncer and was caught at fine leg by Murali Vijay.
Bairstow, in his new berth at five, and Ben Stokes rattled along after the interval, the latter crunching two on drives to the fence off Shami. Bairstow brought up his 13th Test half century with a back cut off Jadeja and the pair went past 50 for the fifth time in their last eight innings together.
The left-arm spinner would account for Stokes though, the all-rounder charging down the track, missing the ball and watching as Parthiv Patel removed the bails.
Jos Buttler started patiently in his first Test for over a year, his first two boundaries both coming off Umesh Yadav and both through the slip cordon, albeit along the floor. His next two showed he had quickly adjusted, both supreme drives through the covers.
He and Bairstow put on 61 to take England to the tea break at 205-5, 113 runs and one wicket coming from a positive afternoon session. But Buttler perished just as he was closing in on a sixth Test match half century, coming down the wicket to Jadeja and chipping the ball in the air to Virat Kohli at extra cover.
Chris Woakes was the new man and announced his arrival with a bullet of a drive through the covers off Umesh Yadav. By this stage, Bairstow had gone 36.1 overs without a boundary, working the ball around the ground for ones and two instead, but he broke that run with a powerful sweep off Jayant.
He’d moved to 89 by the time the same bowler provoked an edge that Patel dropped behind the stumps. The very next ball, Jayant got one to grip off the surface from round the wicket and Bairstow was given LBW - his review unsuccessful.
That left Woakes and Adil Rashid at the crease when the new ball was taken and Umesh Yadav used it to account for the Warwickshire man, the final ball of the day's penultimate over keeping low off the surface to pierce his guard.
Rashid survived the final six deliveries but he and Gareth Batty will need to nudge England close to the 300 mark for the tourists to feel satisfied with their first innings efforts.