Sri Sreesanth gave an assured debut performance for India

Sri Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan shared five of the seven wickets to fall as England disappointed with 246-7.

Kumble said: "I thought the pace bowlers bowled really well.

"It's one of those wickets where if you get in it's a good wicket to bat on. But it's a bit slow so you have to bowl in the right areas. We did that."

Match scorecard

Sreesanth took 2-56 from 18 overs in his first Test appearance - at the same ground where he made his one-day debut against Sri Lanka five months ago.

Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen, two of the batting heroes of England's Ashes success against Australia last summer, were notable victims for the 23-year-old from Kothamangalam.

"It's a great feeling and I think I owe something to this ground.

"I started enjoying it from the first ball and Pietersen's was the wicket I dreamt of - he is one of my favourite batsmen in modern day cricket," Sreesanth commented.

His approach was to treat it as just another game and it paid off as he showed no sign of nerves despite the extra responsibility of being one of only two seam bowlers in the Indian XI.

"The team really supported me. They told me 'believe in yourself, enjoy the game, never doubt your ability' - just normal talk but it really matters when you're on the field and walking back to begin your run-up," he said.

Sreesanth revealed he had bowled to a plan to lure left-hander Strauss into playing at a wide ball and it worked to perfection when VVS Laxman took an sharp catch.

"It was my first wicket in Test cricket, something I've wanted to do from a young age. It was great getting Strauss out, one of the best batsmen in the world, so I'm really proud of that moment," the 23-year-old said.

The only blots on Sreesanth's performance were two warnings for running down the pitch, but he avoided the third which would have resulted in a ban from bowling in the remainder of the innings.

"It does happen and it has happened to me before in a first-class match. It did worry me but I remained confident I wouldn't do it again," he added.

Kumble, meanwhile, was impressed by the way his team restricted England to a scoring rate of less than three runs an over, despite having lost the toss.

"The ball gets a bit soft but the outfield is quick. I thought [debutant Alastair] Cook and [Paul] Collingwood both batted really well.

"We will try to wrap up the last three wickets as quickly as possible on day two, for 20 or 30 more runs."