The five-Test series in India was going to be the biggest test of England's cavalier approach to batting in red-ball cricket.
Unfortunately for them, the opening day of the Hyderabad Test on Thursday was not great advertisement for "Bazball". After a manic day with numerous plays and misses and sharp turn for spinners, India took control of the match, and also exposed some major flaws in England's batting approach.
The visitors decided to bat first and openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley went after India's new ball bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj, humming along at five an over.
But both seamers beat the bat of the openers more often than not. India introduced the spin inside 10 overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were going to pose a whole new level of threat because when they beat the bat, they generally strike.