India coach Duncan Fletcher says the reason his team's famed batting line-up's flop-show in the ongoing series against England is the uncommon assistance to seam and swing afforded by the wickets.

"I haven't seen so often when the ball has seamed and swung around the whole day. Only today, after the first session it swung less and less and did flatten out. It's pretty difficult for batters to adapt," said Fletcher after Indians, put into bat, were all out for 224 on the opening day of the third Test on Wednesday.

 India have so far batted five times in the series and not once posted a score of 300 or in excess and Fletcher conceded that it made things difficult for his bowlers.

"The ball has swung around so much in a row, it's pretty difficult for batters to adapt. We haven't been able to give scores to the bowlers," he said.

India had lost opener Virender Sehwag for a golden duck but Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid stitched together a fine stand of 51 for the second wicket before both were dismissed and Fletcher feels those two wickets in the first session made all the difference.

"Toss was very important. We were looking alright before lunch when we suddenly lost two quick wickets. It got us on to the back-foot. If we were one wicket down at lunch, it would have been a different story," he said.

"It got easier. First session before lunch was critical. It didn't swing as much later in the day."

As conditions eased, England made the most of it reaching 84 for no loss at stumps.