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'Cook's quandary like a tea-boy walking into the company boardroom'
Day One of the first Test between India and England brought bad news for the visitors.
England's fielders were made to chase leather, and opener Virender Sehwag finally found form. He went to score his first Test hundred in two years and found an able ally in No 3 bat Cheteshwar Pujara.
Off-spinner Graeme Swann was the only bright spot for England, scalping all the four wickets to fall on the day.
So how did the foreign press react to the day's play at Motera? Rediff.com brings you a summary of what the English Press felt.
The Telegraph
Alastair Cook's inexperienced tea-boy dealt harsh lesson by Virender Sehwag's boardroom bully.
The Telegraph's Scyld Berry starts off by a show of sympathy for Alastair Cook. He goes on to credit England's captain for showing selflessness by fielding in the slips to the pacers and at silly point when the spinners gave the ball a tweak.
But the writer slams the captain for calling wrong at the toss (luck be damned) and then picking the wrong eleven.
He summed up Cook's quandary (Sehwag's runathon) as that of a 'tea-boy walking into the company boardroom and finding files and laptops being thrown everywhere'.
Stressing that it was Cook's inexperience, in that he could have brought on Swann early into the game and make the breakthrough, Berry said the inconsequential fast bowling allowed Sehwag gain confidence through the innings.
'Sehwag with his confidence returned is a frightening prospect'
The Guardian
Writing for The Guardian, Mike Selvey termed Sehwag's blitzkrieg as an 'astoundingly audacious innings' and lavished big praise on Pujara for his 'understated polished innings'.
He pointed out that India have an advantage of winning the Test having got the toss in their favour.
He also was blunt about the fact that England's selectors will be criticised at the end of this Test for leaving out Monty Panesar from the team.
Praise for Sehwag was abundant, with the writer terming his innings a 'renaissance'.
He ended his piece by writing: 'Setting fields to such a player is difficult: he tends to put the ball where the fielders are not. This hundred, the 23rd of his Test career, which came from only 90 balls, marked him out to stand alongside Chris Gayle and Adam Gilchrist as one of three players who have made three Test hundreds at better than a-run-a-ball. Sehwag with his confidence returned is a frightening prospect.'
'Swann can overtake Underwood as England's top wicket-taker'
Daily Mail
Writing for the Daily Mail, former England coach David Lloyd, in his unique fashion, criticised the England selectors for picking Samit Patel over Monty Panesar.
He also reckoned that Swann has the talent and ability to overtake Derek Underwood and reach 300 Test wickets if he keeps himself fit.
He also had good words for Pujara going on to even describe him as 'Junior Wall'.
How is that for respect?
Lloyd also made mention of the empty seats at the stadium. As if to take a swipe he wrote, 'By the way, they are supposed to be fanatical about cricket in India but no-one is watching...unless they've all turned up dressed as plastic seats. There should be more there.'