The steely glint Greg Chappell spied in Ricky Ponting's eye was there for all to see today as the Australian captain began his side's defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a century in Bangalore.
Indian hopes of a fruitful start in the field were lifted when Matthew Hayden departed to the third ball of the match, but Ponting's 123, his 36th Test century and first on the subcontinent, allowed the tourists to stride to 4-254 by the close after winning the toss.
Simon Katich (66) and Ponting put together a patient 166-run stand in 227 minutes from 325 balls to lay a sound foundation for the innings.
Mike Hussey (46no) made sure it was not wasted, but the loss of Michael Clarke, lbw to Zaheer Khan's inswinger for 11 to what became the final over of the day, kept India in touch.
An average of 12.28 in Tests in India hung heavily over Ponting before the match, and he'd spoken of a desire to take his turn in contributing to Australian success here.
So there was understandable relief in the first over of the final session, when after 12 years, four tours, eight Tests and 14 previous innings, Ponting dabbed Anil Kumble past point for three runs to notch his maiden hundred in the country from 185 balls.
Former captain and assistant Australian coach Chappell noted Ponting's intent more than a week ago in Jaipur, suggesting the opposition should be worried - simply by the look in the Tasmanian's eye.
It was there for all to see today.
Ponting wasn't able to reach the close however, given lbw by umpire Asad Rauf to a delivery from nemesis Harbhajan Singh (1-71).
Much had been said about the importance of veteran Hayden to the Australian cause, but on the first morning of the series he lasted all of three balls.
Allowing the first two from Zaheer (2-39) to pass, Hayden pushed at the third and after a confused mix of bat, pad and possibly outside edge he was sent on his way by Rauf.
Replays suggested bat and ball had not touched, the noise caused instead by the impact of bat onto pad.
Ponting and Katich set about repairing the damage in an assured manner, taking advantage of a pitch that offered very little assistance once the shine went from the ball.
Harbhajan's first ball to Ponting was a poor one, allowing the Australian captain to flick it to fine leg for a boundary, and after lunch he twice advanced to drop-kick the off spinner over midwicket.
He had a fortunate inside edge past the stumps that raced away for four as he moved from 78 to 82 and also looked to be out in the 70th over when a caught and bowled off Kumble was strangely turned down by umpire Rudi Koertzen who believed it was a bump ball.
Katich was less expansive, and it was a genuine surprise when Ishant Sharma (1-49) persuaded him to edge a length ball to 'keeper Mahendra Dhoni in the shadows of tea.
As he turned on his heels Katich kicked angrily at the turf, seemingly aware that on a pristine surface he had let slip the opportunity for a century.
The Australians named 25-year-old Victorian allrounder Cameron White for his Test debut, relegating finger spinner Jason Krejza to 12th man.
Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the first Test between India and Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here today.-
Australia 1st InningsM HAYDEN c Mahendra Dhoni b Zaheer Khan 0
S KATICH c Mahendra Dhoni b Ishant Sharma 66
R PONTING lbw b Harbhajan Singh 123
M HUSSEY not out 46
M CLARKE lbw b Zaheer Khan 11
Sundries (5lb 2nb 1w) 8
Four wickets for 254
Fall: 0 (Hayden), 166 (Katich), 226 (Ponting), 254 (Clarke).
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 17.2-4-39-2 (1w 1nb), Ishant Sharma 16-3-49-1, Harbhajan Singh 25-6-71-1, Anil Kumble 27-4-84-0, Virender Sehwag 4-0-6-0 (1nb).
Batting time: 371 mins. Overs: 89.2.