The talking point of day one of the five-match India-England Test series should really have been Joe Root's brilliant century, as the visitors reached a comfortable 311/4 at stumps after opting to bat first. The England captain-in-waiting had had to drown out talk of a whitewash and, possibly, the news of Donald Trump being on his way to winning the United States presidential election as he walked out to bat at No. 3.

Root's skipper, Alastair Cook, had just been given out leg-before – and wrongly, at that – after a struggle to 21. Cook should have reviewed the decision, but took the advice of his 19-year-old debutant partner Haseeb Hameed, who reckoned umpire Chris Gaffaney was right. Hawk-Eye replays disagreed, showing the ball would have clearly missed leg-stump.

Root watched on as Hameed himself was soon trapped leg-before and went on to review it without consulting him. This time, the dismissal was plumb and England lost a precious review. Root then looked to build a partnership with Ben Duckett, but the left-hander was dismissed off what turned out to be the last ball before lunch. As Root walked off for lunch, with his team at 102/3, he knew that he was up against it.

As the afternoon dawned, the day-one pitch wasn't doing much – it was the best time to bat. What followed was another masterclass from Root and the promoted Moeen Ali. The two were extremely patient in their approach and did not take any undue risks. Root, especially, gave India a dose of what they had experienced on their tour of the United Kingdom in 2014. He had been the highest run-scorer of the series with 518 in seven innings, including two centuries.

The two played India's spinners masterfully, especially Root, who hardly took any risk and played with the assurance of a veteran batter in sub-continental conditions. They took England to tea without further damage, with their partnership crossing the 100-mark.

Root would soon bring up his third Test century against India and 11th overall, consolidating his reputation as the next big thing in English cricket. In fact, it would now be safe to call him the big thing in English cricket. The 25-year-old played his first aggressive stroke of the day after crossing over to three figures, as he stepped down to Ravindra Jadeja and smacked him over the rope straight down the ground. He followed it up with some delightful sweeps and reverse-sweeps off the dreaded Indian spinners.

Then, on 124, he slapped Umesh Yadav's delivery straight back at the bowler. Yadav looked to have caught it, but the ball popped out of his hand and fell to the ground after a juggle. However, the pacer claimed the catch, indicating he had thrown the ball up in celebration. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena concurred, but referred it to the third umpire Rod Tucker, giving the so-called on-field soft signal as out. The replays were inconclusive, but Yadav definitely did not look in control of the ball, which is the requirement to claim a catch.

Tucker told Dharmasena on air that the bowler was smiling after getting his hands on the ball and the soft-signal decision should stay. After all the talk about the DRS, it was two rather bizarre decisions by the umpires that would end up dominating the chatter in the commentary box and on social media.

Root and Ali have put England in control – something not many would have anticipated before the start of the series. More importantly, it would have woken India up and made them realise that play-time is over. They had had a cruise through the three-Test series against New Zealand, but these are the big boys – a team that has beat them in the last three series. If anything, the Joe and Moe Show has set up an enticing five-Test series ahead.

Ali, meanwhile, was left stranded on 99 not out when stumps were called and is bound to spend a fidgety night in bed. However, it's India who would be the more nervous ones as they find themselves behind in a home Test after a long time. What's more, their pace spearhead, Mohammed Shami, clutched his hamstring a couple of times, went off for a bit and looked uncomfortable when he returned. Finally, India have themselves a real challenge at home.

Brief score:

England 311/4 (Joe Root 124, Moeen Ali 99*; R Ashwin 2/108) vs India.