If Act One is anything to go by, we are in for an exciting seven weeks. An entertaining opening day of the five-Test series on Thursday ended with India significantly having the better of the exchanges at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, replying to England’s 246 all out with a promising 119 for one on the back of an attacking unbeaten half-century by Yashasvi Jaiswal.

For all the talk about how much the surface would assist spinners, England should rue not making better use of good batting conditions. There was turn, but it was neither exaggerated nor frequent. The bounce was true and there was value for strokes —as many as 365 runs came in less than 90 overs.