We had a good laugh out there which almost relaxed me Owais Shah

England new boy Owais Shah said a positive approach had paid dividends after his 88 against India in Mumbai.

Shah was handed a last-minute debut, replacing Alastair Cook when the Essex youngster was stuck by a virus, and he made the most of his chance.

"You've always got to back yourself, especially against the spinners. If you look to be busy then you can try to rotate the strike," he said.

"Batting's a lot to do with your state of mind and how you feel."

Shah scored 50 of his runs in partnership with Andrew Strauss on Saturday before having to retire with cramp.

He returned shortly before lunch on Sunday and weathered a flurry of wickets before putting on a morale-boosting 29 for the ninth wicket with James Anderson.

Shah said: "It was a reasonable start for me, I'm quite happy with that.

"I wasn't aware I was going to play until the morning of the first day and I'm really excited with the way the first innings went.

Scorecard Day two report

"My preparation was a little bit rushed, I haven't played much out here and I do suffer from cramps but everything's going well now. Hopefully I can continue that form."

Shah revealed how former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin had played a part in his development as a batsman.

Shah was not afraid to use his feet to combat India's spinners

"I heard through someone that Azhar was looking to open an academy. I called him up, he told me the academy had not started but he'd be quite keen to do some work.

"We did batting every day and changed a few things in my game. I went back to England and stuck to them and things have gone really well," he said.

There was plenty of banter between the Indian bowlers and Shah, who was born in Pakistan.

He was also seen laughing after hitting Harbhajan Singh for a big six.

The former Middlesex captain said: "They had something to say. They are a really good bunch of lads and we had a good laugh out there which almost relaxed me."

Looking ahead to day three, with India 311 behind and with seven wickets in hand, he said: "The ball's just starting to reverse swing.