That was a positive. On the umpiring side, Asad Rauf didn’t budge to most appeals from a tactical united Aussie onslaught, till he was clear on ‘that’ lbw decision in favour of Brett Lee. It, unfortunately, proved a bit high to be called right. Indian sufferings in Sydney are bearing down on the umpires, yet this Sachin Tendulkar decision was a close one.

The Indian batters made a calculated point to play positive cricket, attacking and playing their shots, though they lost the last three wickets only trying to dominate. India ended Day One at 297/6 in 84 overs, still a couple of steps behind where they ought to have been. It’s still good to have a shade under 300 on a single day on a Perth wicket where they decided to bat first. Again, it’s all in the mind.

There was confusion over which of the two was more hyped by the Australians —- Shaun Tait, or this WACA pitch. General consensus would be to apportion it equally, though. Tait started a just over 150 kmph and ended the same way, and his sling shots hurt none of the Indian players on a wicket that had good bounce that merely helped the ball to be hit back neatly on the rise, and on certain occasions well above the fielders.

Tendulkar was severe on Tait, hitting him for four of his nine boundaries. Quite close to his famous upper cuts, Tendulkar culled the ball over the slip cordon, picking as many as 35 runs from the region (see wagon wheel graphic), given the general tendency of the Aussies to dig short or bowl wide with a 7-2 field. It’s a huge temptation to view this knock against his previous century in the 1992 Test. But a separate description of his 129-ball knock of 71 in 175 minutes that abruptly ended in Lee pumping his fist in delight and Tendulkar shaking his head a touch disappointed, can stand on its own.

Tendulkar reached his half-century in 91 balls with eight hits and kept his innings clean, unlike Dravid’s minor blemish when Michael Clarke at second slip let one straight in and out off Lee.

Dravid, on 11 then, stop fiddling outside the off thereafter.

Though Dravid wasn’t too far behind Tendulkar, his half-century had more boundaries —- nine from 95 balls — as the pair put in that 139-run third wicket stand.

Virender Sehwag missed more than he connected in his 81-minute stint, but eventually managed to get India off to a fifty-plus stand. The opener cracked cover-drives and then cut through square alternatively in an engaging performance with Lee and Stuart Clark —- the duo would bang the ball into his body and Sehwag would keep quiet, and then suddenly wake up to slam-bang everything pitched wide or right up to him.

India kept the scoreboard moving, except three straight maidens in between, before Sehwag went, trying to fiddle with a ball too close to his body after an enterprising 29;. His opening partner Wasim Jaffer followed immediately to make it five-out-of-five for Lee against him this series.

Pre-lunch, Tendulkar and Dravid slid into the sleep mode but returned with the same hunger.

Tendulkar left Dravid in the 58th over and Sourav Ganguly fell to a gully-trap. Dravid looked good for a three-digit stamp till, seven short of his ton, he swiped a ball outside off towards mid-wicket and Ponting gleefully accepted the chance he didn’t expect. The horrendous shot, coming from a perfectionist, was equally shocking as Laxman’s attempted pull that landed the ball and the initiative straight to an opposition fielder.

Lee looked the best bowler, willing to bend his back when the requirement. He bowled intelligently in the right areas, making the batsman think with his constant rearrangement of the areas where he pitched.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan, both batting on 8, have another hard spell to survive tomorrow morning with the second new ball, and their success will direct which way the match swings.

Scoreboard

India (Ist Innings)

W Jaffer c Gilchrist b Lee 16

V Sehwag c Gilchrist b Johnson 29

R Dravid c Ponting b Symonds 93

S Tendulkar lbw Lee 71

S Ganguly c Hussey b Johnson 9

VVS Laxman c Tait b Lee 27

MS Dhoni batting 8

I Pathan batting 8

Extras (lb18, w9, nb9): 36

Total (for 6 wkts, 84 overs) 297

Fall of wickets : 1-57, 2-59, 3-198, 4-214, 5-278, 6-284

Bowling: Lee 19-3-64-3, Johnson 21-5-61-2, Clark 15-3-44-0, Tait 13-1-59-0, Symonds 10-1-36-1, Clarke 6-1-15-0.