Curran can't remember most of the lightning spell which sparked England into life

Curran's whippy, skiddy, snappy action did for Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in quick succession, while he returned later in the day to dismiss Hardik Pandya to finish with figures of 4-74 in 17 overs

^{England seamer Sam Curran took 4-74 against India}

Sam Curran introduced himself to Test cricket with a sensational spell of swing bowling at Edgbaston, but the Surrey allrounder will need TV replays to jog his memory of an incredible burst.

Curran, the 20-year-old Surrey left-armer, claimed three wickets for eight runs in eight balls on the second morning of the first Test against India to spark England into life.

His whippy, skiddy, snappy action did for Murali Vijay, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan in quick succession, while he returned later in the day to dismiss Hardik Pandya to finish with figures of 4-74 in 17 overs.

You would perhaps think that such a major career moment would be immediately etched into Curran's mind but, at the close of play, he admitted that he was struggling to put together the pieces of what happened.

^{Curran was in superb form with the ball on day two}

"Personally, it was obviously a pretty special day for me with the ball," he said. "Coming on and taking a few early wickets, I can't really remember it, it was so unreal."

Curran, a rare breed in terms of being an English left-arm seamer playing in Test cricket, is only in his second Test and right now it is hard to know whether he is a batsman who bowls, a bowler who bats or a genuinely thrilling and mightily rare equilibrium of both disciplines.

Regardless, this outing - against Virat Kohli and his Indian top order - will have done the youngster nothing but good.

"I'm only in my second game, but I think it was a little eye-opener for watching the way he bats and how precise you've got to be with your lengths to him, he said of Kohli's extraordinary 149, out of India's first-innings 274.

Kohli was of course dropped twice by England - once on 21 and again on 51 - and the India skipper made the hosts pay the price.

^{England have struggled to produce left-arm seamers}

Curran wasn't about to start fretting over matters of the past, though. And he is certainly confident that England have put themselves in a strong position to go on and win the game.

"Virat did nick a lot of balls outside off-stump that didn't carry as well. We stuck to our plans very well against him, and on another day they would carry," he said. "No one means to drop catches, and on another day they would be taken. But you can't dwell on those things too much especially in a game like this, because there's going to be another chance coming at you straight away.

"The pitch has been pretty good runs, wickets, catches, everything. The bowlers feel in the game, the batters feel in the game. It is maybe starting to turn a little bit more as you saw Ashwin's ball to Cook there at the end did spin.

"We've just got to bat big tomorrow, and put India under pressure going into the fourth innings. It wasn't ideal losing Cook at the end there, but it was a big positive that we managed to bowl them out under our total. Everyone (here) got what they paid for it's going to be a great Test match."

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