Who saw that coming? In truth, not even the most loyal of England supporters could have sensibly predicted a first-Test rout for the tourists, but in beating India by 227 runs in Chennai, Joe Root’s outfit have given themselves every chance of claiming what would be the most significant achievement to date for this improving side.

Perhaps the signs were there after all, with last summer’s series wins over West Indies and Pakistan preceding a comfortable 2-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in Galle only a couple of weeks ago.

There can be little doubt that this is a team very much on the up, but to beat India in their own back yard usually requires five days of near-perfect cricket, particularly given the hosts came into this series on the back of a remarkable success story in Australia. But that’s exactly what England produced: the perfect performance.

The visitors will now march into the second Test, which begins early on Saturday morning UK time, with the strong belief that they have the weapons in their armoury to pull off what be would be a seismic series victory. In Root, they have a batsmen at the very peak of his powers, one who is now touching greatness and might well end up there by the end of his career, while the truly world class all-rounder that is Ben Stokes continues to provide the crucial link between the batting line-up and a well-balanced bowling attack that boasts genuine pace, craft, experience, and two honest and serviceable finger spinners.

The craft is provided by Anderson whose masterful fifth day spell of 7-4-8-3 broke the back of India’s resistance on Monday and surely silenced any remaining doubters who question his ability to perform away from home. At 38 years of age, Anderson might even be taking his game to another level and match figures of 5-63 put his opposite number, Jasprit Bumrah, firmly in the shade.