Monty Panesar impressed me a lot in Mumbai. I have been a harsh critic of his in the past about his failure to improve. Yes, the conditions suited him, but it was great to see his enthusiasm and watch him bowl so beautifully and trouble all the Indian batsmen.

I believe that, no matter what the conditions are, he can now sum them up and take wickets. That is what experience does for you. Alastair Cook needs to take that on board and react by looking at how England are set up and start picking five bowlers. For the sake of the team, Matt Prior should bat at six. England can then pick two spinners and three seamers.

Panesar and Graeme Swann are a natural combination and it is always better to have the ball spinning two different ways. If they play two spinners and three seamers, they have depth. Variation in attack is how you take 20 wickets in all conditions over a period of time.

I know the Australian side I played in often only had four specialist bowlers. But we had Glenn McGrath and myself who would bowl lots of overs as well as Steve Waugh and Mark Waugh as backup part-time bowlers. They took 151 Test wickets between them, and then Michael Clarke came along. England do not have that luxury so give Cook five bowlers. He has a real chance now to establish his own authority and say, ‘This is the way I want to play’.

What I like about Cook is his calmness. After losing the first Test and everyone questioning English batsmen against spin again, it would have been easy to get carried away and try to change everything. It is tough when you lose the first Test but he showed character. His captaincy in the field has been imaginative and he used the right bowlers to the right batsmen. He then batted beautifully, giving an exhibition of how to bat in India.

I doubt many tourists have come here and played better in these conditions. I have seen him play for the last eight years in county and Test cricket and I am sure his last innings was the best knock of his career, given the pressure and conditions. The end result for him was never in doubt. Every morning I watched him in the nets. He works really hard on his game. He plays exactly the same as he bats in the middle. He does not try anything different. He will bat on off stump with the ball spinning into him and work on his different sweeps, nurdling it to the on side or cutting.

It is a pretty simple game. He also trusts his defence. That is the one thing in India you have to do. It really helps Kevin Pietersen to have a captain such as Cook. This a fresh start for KP and England. If the captain did not want him in the team then there is no way he would be back in the side. It was a good move from Cook to say, “You know what, we know we need our best batsmen so forget about everything else.”

It sends a message to the media, all the players and KP: this is a new captain, a new regime and let’s start all over again with a clean slate. From my experience of playing with him, Pietersen needs to be made to feel important. If that happens he will give a lot more and Cook has done that by saying, “I want KP in the team because he is the top dog”.

Cook understands that with KP around, the team are a lot better than without him. It would have been a very different outcome if Pietersen had been back in England instead of in Mumbai. KP still has to earn the respect of his teammates. A sure way to do that is to make 186 and help win the game.

Over the next couple of years, that Cook and KP partnership will be crucial. They really look like they have developed a bond and a good working relationship. Some England players need to earn KP’s respect back too, time can be a good healer. It helped KP that Cook was at the crease when he went out to bat. His mind was scrambled in the first Test and it showed in the way he played.

There was no cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof stuff. He was calm, trusted his defence and played a few shots. He did not try anything funky. He hit with the spin all the time at the start of his innings. I have always said KP does not have an issue with left-arm spin. The problems arise after he gets out to it. In his next innings, he tries to prove to everyone he can play and does not give himself a chance to settle. If KP gets in, then he is the most destructive and outrageous player in the world. He is great to watch, a match winner and a character.

We need these heroes for children to stay interested in Test cricket. Cook will be concentrating on trying to win a series in India but the rest of us can look into the future to an absolutely fascinating clash next summer with Clarke, the Australia captain. — The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2012