Friday 25 November 2016 18:29, UK
They have been east and then travelled west but now it is time to head north for the third Test of the series and much is riding upon this contest in Mohali, which you can see live on Sky Sports 2 from 3.30am on Saturday.
So, let's have a look at some of the key attributes ahead of this vital game, with England trailing 1-0 with three games still to play.
For those who are doom-mongering about England's chances of salvaging the series, you will only have to rewind your memory four years to find some presence of hope.
Alastair Cook's side were soundly beaten in Ahmedabad in November 2012 in the first Test of the series but hit back with successive victories in Mumbai and Kolkata. They then closed out the series with outstanding second innings centuries from Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell in Nagpur to bring home the 2-1 series success.
Or how about 2006? A three-match series with England 1-0 down with one to play in Mumbai. Step forward Shaun Udal to decimate India for just 100 and record a 212-run triumph to take a share of the spoils.
And you can ask David Gower as well, whose 1984/85 tourists were 1-0 down with four to play but recorded victories in Delhi and Chennai and flew home with a 2-1 series win in their pockets.
The Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, a city around six miles from the city of Chandigarh - known as "The City Beautiful" - has hosted international cricket since 1993 and is proving something of a fortress for the Indian team.
Since December 2009, India have played 10 international games - three Tests, five ODIs and two T20 Internationals - and lost just one, an ODI against Australia in October 2013.
Attention will, for obvious reasons, turn to spin. In the last six Tests played since 2006, in which India are undefeated, winning five and taking a draw against England in 2008, the seam-spin split is roughly 50 per cent.
As for England's record on this ground, they have headed in five times and endured four defeats, in two Tests and two ODIs, and the 2008 draw on the Mumbai terror-attack shortened tour.
He was just a fresh faced 17-year-old when he made his Test debut against England at Trent Bridge in 2002 and he remains the youngest wicket-keeper ever to play the longest format.
But Patel hasn't seen Test honours since replacing an out of form Dinesh Karthik for the third Test against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Stadium in Colombo in August 2008 with MS Dhoni and Wriddhiman Saha monopolising the Test gloves ever since.
His return comes a full eight years and three months since his last Test appearance, the longest non-enforced break for any Indian Test player in their history (Lala Amarnath, Dattaram Hindlekar, Mushtaq Ali, CS Nayudu and Vijay Merchant all played pre and post-World War II).
And the diminutive 31-year-old keeper returns to the side in good form, having hit his 24th first-class century a week ago, an unbeaten 139 against Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy.
Jos Buttler is likely to return
Lancashire's Buttler is fancied to return to the side in place of the struggling Ben Duckett.
However, since his last Test appearance against Pakistan in Dubai back in October 2015, he has played almost exclusively white-ball cricket, apart from the Championship match at the end of the 2016 season for Lancashire against Middlesex at Old Trafford.
Buttler has played 58 white-ball games - 25 one-day games and 33 Twenty20s - since being replaced by Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps during the Pakistan series in the UAE after enduring a tough spell following an impressive start to his Test career.
With just one first-class appearance in 14 months, no first-class half-century since his 73 against New Zealand at Headingley in May 2015 and no century since June 2014's 100 not out against Durham for Lancashire, Buttler is not in a great position for a red-ball Indian examination.
We shall see how he and Cook's men fair on Saturday morning when play gets underway.
Watch Rashid and England in action in the third Test against India in Mohali, live on Sky Sports 2 from 3.30am on Saturday.
