Chris Waters: England have laid down a marker in all areas

There were many positives for England from the opening Test in Rajkot, where they gained a moral victory against the world’s No 1-ranked team.

First, and most obvious, was the character they showed in recovering from the debacle in Dhaka, where they lost 10-64 to crash to a humiliating defeat.

As responses go, a first innings score of 537 at Rajkot, followed by 260-3 declared in the second innings, was one to hearten every English supporter, who feared a tough series amid talk of a 5-0 whitewash.

The platform for a fine fightback was set by Joe Root on the opening day, when the Yorkshireman scored his 11th Test hundred, and it continued with centuries from Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes.

Moeen has never played better for England, and if someone only had the sense to move Jonny Bairstow from No 7 to No 4, a top-six of Cook, Hameed, Root, Bairstow, Ali and Stokes would have a formidable look.

Another big positive – and an unexpected one – was that England’s spinners out-bowled India’s.

Ravichandran Ashwin went into the game as the world’s No 1-ranked bowler and Ravindra Jadeja as the seventh-best, but Ali (ranked 27th), Adil Rashid (78th) and the unplaced Zafar Ansari did a grand job.

After India moved to 277-1 in their first innings, thereby threatening a total in excess of 600 to put pressure on England, Rashid, Ali and Ansari took eight wickets between them as the hosts were dismissed for 488.

The biggest plus point was the work of Rashid.

Bob Willis, the epitome of goodwill to all men, suggested after Dhaka that Rashid was a luxury that England could not afford and said he should be dispatched on the earliest flight back to Leeds-Bradford airport along with Yorkshire team-mate Gary Ballance.

For the umpteenth time, the former England captain proved that he is little more than a slinger of cheap shots as Rashid enjoyed his best match for England.

Since he burst on the scene 10 years ago, there has been no stronger advocate of Rashid than this column, and while it is by no means oblivious to his weaknesses, there must be an embarrassment of riches in this country if a leg-spinner who has taken over 450 first-class wickets and scored over 6,000 runs has played only six Tests.

Perhaps Rashid will now enjoy an extended run, and he followed his 4-114 from 31 overs in the first innings with 3-64 from 14.3 overs as England troubled India on the final day.

Set 310 from a minimum of 49 overs, India closed on 172-6, with Virat Kholi (49 not out) needing all his skill and experience to steer his side to safety.

Some might quibble at the timing of England’s declaration; could they possibly have given themselves a little more time to dismiss the hosts?

Perhaps, but it was the proverbial case of ifs, buts and maybes, and the tourists’ priority was to make the game safe.

Another big positive for England was the performance of 19-year-old Haseeb Hameed, who scored 31 and 82 on debut.

As with Root when he first came on the scene, Hameed is obviously cut out to play international cricket, and his temperament is remarkable for one so young.

It would have been fitting had Hameed scored a hundred on a last day on which Cook registered his 30th in Tests, thereby going past Don Bradman.

To put that into context, Cook has played 165 more innings, but it was another milestone for a man leading England for a record-breaking 55th time in Tests.

Expect India to come back strongly when the second Test starts in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, but England have certainly laid down a marker.