After their impressive win in the opening Test in Chennai, England's cricketers came down to earth with a resounding bump in the second when they were crushed by the hosts with India enjoying a comprehensive 317-run victory.
The England batsmen never came to terms with the Indian spinners and for the first time since 1995 they failed to reach a combined total of 300 for their two innings. This must be a worry for captain Joe Root who conceded "we were outplayed."
Admittedly on Indian wickets winning the toss is hugely important and it is no coincidence that in the first two Tests the captain that called the flip of the coin correctly turned out to be the winner.
After England could only muster 134 in their first innings in response to India's 329 some observers blamed the state of the pitch.
But the England management thankfully did not use this as an excuse and their official comment on the pitch was that it was "challenging" -- a wise choice of words.
If the pitch was playing so badly as some suggest, that makes the first innings 161 by India's opening bat Rohit Sharma all the more remarkable. It turned out to be a match-winning knock.
The fact that in their second innings India had little trouble compiling 289, indicated the pitch, though undoubtedly tricky, was still playable if the batsmen adapted themselves, which England were unable to do.
The icing on the cake for India was the performance of Ravichandran Ashwin on his home ground, following up a five-wicket haul in the first innings with a tremendous 106.
Even better, there were actually spectators present who were naturally overjoyed to witness their favourite son win the player of the march award.
The match also featured two excellent all-round performances by the respective wicketkeepers, Rishabh Pant and Ben Foakes, both of whom displayed magnificent glove-work on a difficult surface with lots of turn and bounce.
In addition to the stumpings and catches, in the first innings Foakes did not concede a single bye, a most impressive effort.
There was a bizarre but entertaining end to the match.
As England succumbed to the brilliant bowling of Axar Patel, with the pressure off, all-rounder Moeen Ali played a delightful cameo in a last-wicket partnership in which he hit five sixes and three fours in a quick-fire 43, which turned out to be England's highest score in both innings. Ali also enjoyed an eight-wicket haul in the match.
Unfortunately, owing to England's rigid rotation policy, Ali has gone back to England for a break from the "bubble."
After two intriguing matches, the series is set up nicely at 1-1.
The next Test begins on Wednesday at the new Ahmedabad stadium and is a day/night pink ball affair which could make things interesting.
One thing England cannot blame their below-par second Test performance on is the food which is by all accounts first class.
In the old days, it was something of a different story.
A number of England players did not travel too well and many had an inbuilt fear of food on the sub-continent.
There was an abundance of tales concerning battles with Bangalore Belly, Rawalpindi Runs, Faisalabad Foxtrot and so on.
Ken Barrington, fine batsman though he was, could not handle Indian food and when he toured he stuck to a diet of egg and chips.
He explained: "You can't muck around with eggs and you can't muck around with chips."
Another England player with conservative tastes when it came to food was wicketkeeper Jack Russell.
He claimed he ate steak and chips for 28 consecutive nights in India and was the only player who wasn't ill.
Back in those days their fears were not entirely unfounded.
Opening batsman Robin Smith had a particularly torrid time with bowel movements when he toured India.
Upon arrival back in England, he commented: "I just want to get back in the middle and get the right sort of runs."
Then there was the tour in 1993 when several members of the England team, including captain Graham Gooch, were wiped out by a lively prawn curry.
Things were even worse on the field where England were thrashed in all three Tests.
After the dodgy meal incident, Wisden reported "England were well beaten by 11 men and a plate of prawns."
For the rest of the tour, the England squad were put on a strict diet of baked beans, corned beef and naan bread.