Andrew Flintoff’s first step as captain was the correct one of winning the toss. Though Nagpur is one of the better batting pitches in the country, it will help spin bowlers as the days go on, and so it was important that England weren’t on the back foot even before a ball was bowled. They haven’t had the best of starts to the tour, what with losing the captain and vice-captain who aren’t even in the dressing room to give the benefit of their experience.

There were two good debuts on the first day. Alistair Cook, who opened the batting displayed good temperament as he tackled not just the swing of Pathan, but also the spin of Kumble and Harbhajan. The bowlers invariably find some assistance from the wicket in the first session of a Test match, even in the so-called ‘batting-friendly’ subcontinent, and the England openers did a fine job in ensuring that there was no early fall of wickets. The fall of wickets in the second and third sessions could be attributed to a combination of good bowling and ordinary batting.

The other notable debut was that of Sreesanth, who was preferred to R.P.Singh and who justified that by taking two wickets including the important one of Strauss who looked set and then getting rid of the dangerous Pietersen. Monty Panesar also has got his first cap for England but like Harbhajan whether he wears the regulation cap or a white Panama remains to be seen as also his effectiveness against the Indians who play spin quite brilliantly.

India’s eleven was not an attacking one with five bowlers, but with six batsmen plus Dhoni and Pathan, who have shown that they are more than useful batsmen.

Still, at the end of the day if it works nobody can complain. India’s problems have been the lack of variety in the attack and with a left and right hand new-ball combination that was corrected to some extent.

In fact, England have done well to keep India on for a day in intense heat. There’s also some bounce, though more a spongy kind of bounce than the carry-through bounce which quick bowlers like.

India hoped that they will be able to restrict England to less than 275 for then it gives them time to put up a score where they don’t have to bat again. But then Harmison and company may have different ideas and that’s what makes this game such a hard one to predict.

England’s slide from 110-2 to 246-7 on first day might well have reminded stand-in captain Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard, the two members of the England XI that lost the first Test of their previous tour of India in 2001-02, of their dramatic collapse on the opening day of that game from a healthy 129-1 to 238 all out. For the record, England lost that Test by ten wickets and went on to lose the series 0-1. As the senior members of a depleted squad, they will have to take the lead in ensuring that the 2005-06 series doesn’t begin for them on a similar note.