By Jonathan Agnew BBC cricket correspondent

England started the first Test brightly through debutant Alastair Cook but stumbled to 246-7 by the end of day one.

With a lightning-fast outfield and a bland pitch, the main debating point before the start was what a par first innings score should be.

Throughout his three-and-a-half hour innings Cook looked thoroughly composed

Most pundits went for at least 450, while 500 was even mentioned by one particularly greedy individual.

When 17 runs came from the third over of the morning, it seemed that England might build a platform that would do the conditions justice.

But India soon tightened their grip through a couple of brilliant slip catches and are now well placed to take control of the game.

Alastair Cook fully deserves this accolade after a highly promising debut innings of 60.

Bearing in mind that he had to travel from Antigua - and endure a time change of nine and a half hours - to get here, this really was an excellent performance.

Day one report

Throughout his three-and-a-half-hour innings he looked thoroughly composed.

With Michael Vaughan sidelined indefinitely, there is a vacancy in England's top order.

And with the promise of more flat, batsman-friendly pitches to come in this series, Cook has a wonderful opportunity.

Sri Sreesanth also deserves mention for his whole-hearted effort that yielded two important wickets in conditions that offered him nothing at all.

One can only imagine how Andrew Flintoff felt when he left the dressing room for the toss.

Photos from Nagpur

In fact, England's latest captain strode purposefully out to the middle, waving his team sheet with just a suggestion of triumph.

After all, only a few days ago we wondered if England would be able to get 11 players on the park!

It was crucial that England won the toss, and Flintoff's call of "tails" gave his beleaguered team just the lift they needed.

Unfortunately, from England's perspective, they were unable to capitalise on their opportunity as four batsmen gifted their wickets.

Already it is clear that England are going to fall well short of a competitive first-innings total.

The onus will fall on their bowlers, who now have a monumental struggle to keep the tourists in the game.

India's batting line-up is laced with talent, but is also a perfect mix of players that attack, and those that consolidate.

The home side are in the perfect position to give England an object lesson in batting in these conditions.