There is no such thing as a winning draw in Test cricket, but if there were then England would have achieved one in Rajkot. The match ended with English fieldsmen huddled around the bat against India batsmen intent upon avoiding the unthinkable.

That constitutes progress as far as the tourists are concerned. They had produced a valiant effort throughout every minute of five cloudless days at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

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As ever, the nature of the game was dictated by the surface, which was truer than many recent Indian Test pitches. There was increasing turn and the oddity was that England’s spinners often looked likely to cause more havoc than India’s. There is no guarantee that this will remain the case in Visakhapatnam, the venue for the next Test, where there are rumours of a drier, barer, more devious strip.

Whatever the conditions awaiting them, England leave Rajkot in good heart after a spirited, skilful performance, which has tossed down the gauntlet to the India side; it may even have surprised them a little. The chance to bat first on a trustworthy surface allowed the tourists to exorcise the nightmare of Dhaka in a match where England’s resolve and concentration never wavered.

They remained full of zest and ambition on the fifth day but there were no miraculous twists or turns. The pitch was too good for that and so were the India batsmen, not least Virat Kohli. Even so, there was much to savour for England’s supporters, and plenty to suggest that the team are moving in the right direction.

An Alastair Cook century is hardly headline news but it is always a reassuring event, and it has become quite a common one in India. Here, as England batted themselves to safety before declaring, he registered his fifth hundred in this country, more than any other visiting batsman and his 30th in Test cricket. It was like many others, except for one glorious stroke that he has kept in his locker for over a decade.

Cook was obliged to up the tempo before the declaration and this was no easy task against Ravichandran Ashwin, who was bowling from over the wicket and landing the ball about two inches outside the left-hander’s leg stump. Cook tried a range of sweep shots with modest success. Then he opted to dance down the wicket outside the line of leg stump before unfurling a lofted drive against the spinning ball over extra-cover – never seen him do that before. It was a startling shot, on a par with Haseeb Hameed’s straight six on Saturday night.

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Hameed began the day on 62 and with his burgeoning number of admirers hoping that he might make another 38. He batted for more than an hour, calmly but without the same fluency of the previous evening. At drinks the two openers obviously decided to up the tempo; they passed England’s best opening partnership in India, by Tim Robinson and Graeme Fowler in Chennai on the 1984-85 tour. Then Hameed nobly went after a wide leg-break from Amit Mishra. A flat-batted drive, perhaps the ugliest shot of his innings, presented a straightforward return catch. Even so, Hameed’s debut performance had been the most obvious plus in an uplifting effort by England.

Joe Root had a dutiful swipe at Mishra before he was really ready to do so and top-edged. Then the promoted Ben Stokes added 68 with his captain, who declared just after he had holed out off Ashwin for 130.

England’s lead was 309 and there were a minimum of 49 overs to bowl. In the second of those Gautam Gambhir edged to second slip off Chris Woakes. Soon Cook switched to his spinners, and just before tea Cheteshwar Pujara was lbw to Adil Rashid.

The cameras zoomed in on Anil Kumble, the India coach, holding his head in his hands. Pujara may have been doing the same: replays demonstrated how the ball had pitched outside of leg stump but, with no encouragement from his partner, Murali Vijay, he had declined to review.

The nerves in the India side grew ever more frayed after tea. Murali Vijay was taken at bat-pad off Rashid; Ajinkya Rahane tried to cut Moeen, a bad idea on this decaying surface, and was bowled off his pads. Now Ashwin, one of the wiser old owls in the India team, battled away alongside his captain. He lunged forward at Moeen’s off-breaks and the lbw shouts rang out.

The crisis seemed to be receding, until Ashwin drove a catch to cover off Ansari; then Wriddhiman Saha played an inappropriate innings: two impish boundaries followed by a gentle return catch to Rashid. England scurried eagerly into their positions, which usually had five of them prowling hopefully around the bat. In the end Ravindra Jadeja – with the odd flourish – hung around with Kohli, who was the more relieved captain when he shook hands with Cook.

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In a batsman’s game, Rashid had taken more wickets than anybody – seven. That represents an advance and this was his most impressive performance with the ball in his brief Test career. He enjoys working with England’s latest spin guru so it must be good news that Saqlain Mushtaq is going to stay with the party for another two Test matches.

Moeen Ali, for his all-round efforts, was the man of an intriguing match, which often chugged along at a 20th-century pace.

Everything might happen a little quicker down in Visakhapatnam. But after this sterling performance England won’t be quite so bothered by that. They look ready for a do-or-die scrap.