England in control in Rajkot

Joe Root and Moeen Ali starred with the bat for England as they took full control of the first test against India, finishing 311-4.

Coming off the back of a first test loss to Bangladesh, most pundits didn't give England much of a chance in this series, despite their recent record in India. But after Alistair Cook won the toss and elected to bat first, Root and Ali cashed in to leave England in a strong position at the close of play. 

Joe Root celebrates his century.

Root, returning to the country where he made his test debut, scored his first test century in the sub-continent with 124, pulling England back from 102-3 after Cook, Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett had all fallen cheaply. 

However a partnership worth 179 with Moeen Ali, who finished the day unbeaten on 99, took England to a strong position where they can be confident of scoring over 400 in their first innings. 

India could have left England in a much worse situation, having dropped Cook twice and Hameed once in the first session, Cook being dropped third ball of the day. Ravi Ashwin went for over 100 runs in the day and Amit Mishra never settled, making the days play much easier for England's batsmen once set at the crease.

India haven't lost a test match at home since England toured in 2012, but the team that has returned only contains five of the winning squad, with Root and Johnny Bairstow only playing one test each in the last tour, now essential parts of the England side that tours now.

Root also became the second man to score over 1000 runs in 2016, after Bairstow and just the second to score a test match century in India since 2012, with Michael Clarke being the only other player.

Despite India's record, England will be the most content going into day two with hopes for a big first innings total to defend.