London: England have found a good one in Haseeb Hameed and it is great that the selectors had the courage to pick a 19-year-old.
At 19 I was playing for Yorkshire seconds and the England selectors had to make a judgement on whether Hameed had the technique and temperament to step up to Test-match cricket at such a young age.
England have been cautious previously and chosen older, more mature players.
He looks well organised with a big stride forward, which gets him close to — and over the top of — the ball.
When he plays back he gets deep in the crease, which is the correct way.
He has a tight defence, which is necessary to succeed as an opening batsman against the new ball.
He stays sideways on and plays close to his body whereas too many of our tried and failed openers have flirted outside the off stump, like Sam Robson, or not moved their feet enough, like Adam Lyth, or hit great shots but defended badly, like Alex Hales.
Hameed looks the part and lets the ball come to him, plays with relaxed, soft hands to make the ball die if he does not middle it or nicks it.
He looks an opener with a sound defence but is not passive.
He has a nice range of shots to go with good composure, and the old saying is still true today: If you are good enough you are old enough.
The last time I saw an English youngster take to Test-match cricket so comfortably and appear so composed, unfazed and at ease was his captain and opening partner Alastair Cook 10 years ago in Nagpur against India, where he made 60 and 104 not out.
This kid is born for Test-match cricket, like Cook. A note of caution. People should not expect too much from him too soon.
He will have a few downs as well as plenty of success but none of us are the finished product when we start our international careers.
The only way you get better and gain experience is by playing, getting out, making mistakes and learning not to make the same mistake twice.
We have not seen him tested by short balls because there are hardly any genuine speedsters in county or Test cricket.
Just remember that when England came up against Mitchell Johnson on hard, fast pitches in Australia he blew all our batsmen away and that included our best in Joe Root and Cook, who averaged 27.42 and 24.60 respectively in that series.
I am flattered that Hameed is known as “Baby Boycott”.
It is a compliment to me that his father showed him videos of me and wanted him to watch my technique. He is not a modern player.
The modern player has grown up with crash, bang, wallop Twenty20 and having to play cricket’s answer to baseball.
This kid plays as if he could have played in my era on uncovered pitches because he seems to have the temperament, patience, concentration and technique.
The only decision for England to make before the next Test is if they should play a fit James Anderson.
For me it is simply too big a risk. When bowlers have been out injured for a long time I prefer them to prove physical fitness and match readiness in a game before returning to Test cricket.
Nets and training are no substitute for real competitive cricket.
Sadly there are no practice matches for Jimmy to prove himself.
Last winter in South Africa Jimmy missed the first Test in Durban through injury and had not bowled in a match since the last Test at the Oval on August 13 until he played in Cape Town in January.
England took a chance because of his past reputation and fantastic bowling record but he was a shadow of himself: short on pace and nip off the pitch with no rhythm.
He bowled 35 overs in Cape Town and never looked like taking wickets. To be blunt he was powder puff. He was not great in the next Test in Johannesburg but found his rhythm in Pretoria.
All three of the present seamers — Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes — bowled well in Rajkot.
Stokes is a superb batsman, Woakes can bat and Broad is an experienced, quality performer.
To put it bluntly, seamers are rarely match winners in India. All the spinners bowled well in this Test — especially Adil Rashid.
It was one of his best matches for England. He had better control with not so many loose balls. England’s performance was terrific.
They outplayed India in every department and gave them a scare.
Sadly for England, the pitch was too good and never looked like deteriorating until the last day.
India’s catching was woeful, ground fielding sloppy while England dived everywhere, attacked the ball and squeezed the pressure on the Indian batsmen with bowling that never lost its purpose or discipline.
The next Test may not be on a flat batting pitch. The zonal matches at Visakhapatnam have been low-scoring affairs with the pitch turning early and almost always a result.
So winning the toss and playing well is crucial. England need to keep the same team but now know if they play with the same intensity and skill they are a match for India.
