Both bowling attacks found wickets difficult to come by in last week's series-opener, which ended in a draw after India batted out the final day.
A flat pitch lacking in pace was criticised from day one and, in truth, provided little prospect of a positive result.
Groundsman Steve Birks also conceded that the had been disappointed with the surface, stating that he perhaps should "have left a bit more grass on."
And it has now been confirmed that the ICC's match referee David Boon deemed the surface to be substandard.
An ICC statement on Saturday read: "The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced that David Boon of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, who was the match referee for the first Test between England and India in Nottingham, has rated the pitch used at Trent Bridge as "poor."
"In accordance with Clause 3 of the ICC Pitch Monitoring Process, Mr Boon submitted his report to the ICC expressing his concerns over the quality of the pitch. This report has been forwarded to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which now has 14 days to provide its response.
"After the ECB has submitted its response, ICC's General Manager – Cricket, Geoff Allardice, and the ICC's chief match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, will consider all the evidence, including studying video footage of the match, before reaching their decision on whether or not the pitch was poor and if so, if a penalty should be imposed in accordance with Clause 4 of the ICC Pitch Monitoring Process.
"The ICC will make no further comments until Mr Allardice and Mr Madugalle have reached their decision."