Cricket: Watson touch helps Australia to good position

Shane Watson was seeing the ball clearly. Photo / Getty Images

Opener Shane Watson maintained his rare batting touch to steer Australia into a good position on the first day of the second tests against India at lunch.

Watson and fellow opener Simon Katich took Australia to 95 for none at lunch, although Katich was caught by Rahul Dravid off spinner Harbajhan Singh for 43 shortly after resumption.

Watson, who faced 80 balls and hit 9 fours in his 57, was surprisingly dismissed when Indian paceman Pragyan Ojha got a delivery to bounce and either glove Watson or glance off the shoulder of the bat for wicketkeeper MS Dhoni to take a sharp catch.

Late last night, skipper Ricky Ponting had led Australia to 172 for 3 off 39 overs.

On a morning that saw the debut of the young South Australian seamer Peter George, Watson (54 no) and Simon Katich (39 no) blunted the Indian attack in overcast conditions to set a firm platform for the rest of the innings. Demonstrating complete focus and application, Watson took his series' runs tally to 239 so far, at an average of 79.66.

It is little wonder his Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals will set aside as much as A$2 million to retain him next year.

The Indians did not always bowl at their best, though Singh and Pragyan Ojha sometimes gained appreciable turn.

When it's their turn to bat, India will miss the services of their first Test saviour VVS Laxman, after he failed to recover from back spasms.

The grey, humid weather and a pitch less than firm after recent rains offered some encouragement to Indian pacemen Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, and there was enough early swing to beat the bat.

However, Watson was seeing the ball clearly from the moment he faced up, and in the day's second over struck a pair of crisp straight boundaries when Sreesanth overpitched.

After each shot Watson made sure to say a few words, getting into Sreesanth's ear during his first test appearance against Australia.

At the other end, Katich was his old dependable self, taking his time to settle but occasionally punching through the offside field.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting handed a first test cap to the 23-year-old George, who will join Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson in the pace attack after Doug Bollinger was forced out by a muscle strain. It was the only change to the Australian side that lost so agonisingly in Mohali, meaning several players, including Marcus North and Nathan Hauritz, will get a chance to atone for quiet matches.

The Indians also have a debutant, with Cheteshwar Pujara into the batting line-up in place of VVS Laxman - who had tested his fitness with an evening net session on match eve but woke up too immobile to take his place in the team.

There are two other changes to the Indian XI, with pace bowler Ishant Sharma and opening batsman Gautam Gambhir being replaced by Sreesanth and Murali Vijay.

- AAP