Captain Cook scored 130, his 30th Test century and teenage debutant Haseeb Hameed hit a record-breaking 82, but England fell four wickets short of victory in the first Test of a five-match series in India.
England declared soon after lunch on Day Five, 310 runs ahead on 260-3, giving themselves the best part of two sessions to take the 10 wickets needed for victory.
Adil Rashid took three wickets as England reduced India to 172-6 but the tourists ran out of time on the final day and though England dominated proceedings, India clung on for a tense draw.
Opening the final day 163 runs ahead, Cook looked to pick up from where he left off on England’s last tour of India in 2012. Making light work of the hosts’ much-admired bowling attack, in particular world number one Ravi Ashwin, he played with elegance, fluidity and authority, using his favoured cut and pull shots to rack up the runs on Day Five.
He reached his 30th Test century off 194 balls just before lunch to become the only visiting batsman to have scored five tons in India. On his way to 130, he also passed Graham Gooch’s record of 11 Test centuries as England captain and the Australian great Don Bradman’s haul of 29 Test tons.
Batting alongside the captain, Hameed found it a touch trickier to score than he had the previous afternoon. However, the 19-year-old still managed to break the record for England’s highest-ever score by a teenager, moving past Jack Crawford’s 74 in Cape Town in 1906. Hameed was vying to become England’s youngest Test centurion but it wasn’t to be. In an effort to accelerate the scoring rate, the young Lancastrian misjudged an attempted slog-sweep off Amit Mishra and was caught sharply by the bowler.
Although there was a close call for the front-foot no ball, replays showed the legspinner had just enough behind the line to condemn Hameed. The opener departed for a sensational 82, making 113 runs in total in what was one of the most exciting debuts from an Englishman in Test history.
Joe Root replaced the teenager and looked to amplify England’s score with a big slog-sweep, but could only toe-end the ball up in the air for Wriddhiman Saha to take a simple catch. Root departed for 4 and out came Ben Stokes, England showing clear attacking intent by promoting the aggressive all-rounder up the order.
Stokes duly delivered, sweeping Mishra for four when he could finally get the strike off Cook, who was enjoying himself out in the middle. An inside-out blow over extra cover for four the shot of choice on a memorable morning for the skipper.
By now, it was simply a question of timing the declaration to give England enough overs to force a surprise win. When Cook was caught in the deep attempting to launch Ashwin into the stands for 130, the signal was given. England declared on 260-3, Stokes with an unbeaten run-a-ball 29, setting the hosts 310 runs and the visitors 10 wickets to win from a minimum of 49 overs.
England enjoyed the perfect start, Chris Woakes getting the wicket his bowling deserved with the 12th ball of the innings. Gautam Gambhir meekly fended off a fizzing short ball, which flew straight to Root at second slip. The opener departed for a duck and India were 0-1.
First innings centurions Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay played solidly for the next 17 overs, taking valuable time out of the game, until Rashid struck with the tenth ball of his opening spell. Pujara was trapped in front by a full, straight delivery for 18 just before the tea interval.
Two wickets in nine balls soon after the resumption silenced the small but previously noisy Rajkot crowd. First, Rashid had Vijay caught at short leg for 31, Hameed diving forward to take another good catch at short leg. Then Moeen Ali got in on the act, new batsman Ajinkya Rahane misjudging one that spun and kept low, clipping onto his leg stump for 1.
New batsman Ashwin defended well alongside captain Virat Kohli and the pair batted together for 15 overs. The England bowlers kept up the pressure from both ends, though, and eventually the all-rounder drove straight to Root at cover off Zafar Ansari for 32.
Wicketkeeper Saha lasted only 13 balls before being caught and bowled by the excellent Rashid, who finished with figures of 3-64. But in the end Kohli (49*) held firm with Ravi Jadeja (32*) to frustrate England in a tense conclusion.
While England are disappointed not to have forced the victory, they will be far the happier side after a brilliant team performance. Following first innings centuries from Root, Stokes and Ali, as well as seven wickets in the match for Rashid, Cook will lead England into the second Test at Visak on Thursday brimming with confidence.