India failed to capitalise after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni elected to bat on a juicy Old Trafford wicket, as pace spearhead James Anderson (2/21) and Stuart Broad (2/8) shared two wickets apiece to put the visitors in trouble at 8 for 4 in 5.1 overs.
Playing a Test after nearly one-and-half-years, Gautam Gambhir (4) was the first to go after being caught at gully by Joe Root off Broad.
Virat Kohli also registered a blob as Anderson got another wicket in the space of three deliveries with the Delhi batsman guilty of fiddling with a regulation outswinger to Cook once again.
Broad then struck in the very next over to send Cheteshwar Pujara (0) packing as the Indian scorecard already has three ducks.
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The visitors were given some breathing space by the fifth-wicket pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Dhoni, who stitched a 54-run partnership to raise some hopes of a recovery.
Play had been delayed for half an hour owing to morning showers and when Dhoni did elect to bat it seemed like a good decision with even Cook admitting to have batted first had the coin came flipped his favour.
But the decision didn't seem very intelligent when the Indian wickets started falling like a pack of cards.
Dhoni on 25 and Ravindra Jadeja on 0 were battling for survival at the stroke of lunch with the England pacers clearly giving the first-session honours to the hosts.