Cricket: India v Australia: First Test, Day Two: Gilchrist and Clarke Flay India

It is possible to be a wicketkeeper-batsman and captain in international cricket, as Alec Stewart, Andy Flower and Moin Khan would confirm. Adam Gilchrist, though, was considered too important a cricketer to be given the captaincy of Australia when Steve Waugh left the job in January.

But now Gilchrist, leading the team in place of the injured Ricky Ponting, may succeed where Waugh, Kim Hughes, Allan Border and Mark Taylor all failed by orchestrating Australia's first series win in India for 35 years, though Ponting may be fit in time for the end of the series.

If Gilchrist proves successful he will have the added satisfaction of proving that the pressures of high office have had no adverse effect on his own game. He was physically and metaphorically at the centre of matters here yesterday as Australia took a firm hold on the opening Test.

At the close India were 150 for six, still 324 behind Australia's Gilchrist and Michael Clarke inspired total of 474. Gilchrist, though, will not enforce the follow-on without careful consideration.

In the corresponding series three years ago, India became only the third team to win a Test after being invited to follow on - poor old Australia were the beaten team on the other two occasions too, against England in Sydney 1894-95 and in Leeds in 1981.

But the tourists dominated yesterday's play from the moment in the morning that Clarke became the first Australian to score a century on debut since Greg Blewett a decade ago.

He was on 76 when Australia resumed on 316 for five and when he moved into the nineties he replaced his helmet with the baggy green, which he kissed emotionally on reaching three figures from 170 balls. Then, after lunch and back under his helmet, he raced to 151, hitting Anil Kumble for two straight sixes.

By then, though, the India bowlers had been demoralised by another century, Gilchrist's 11th in Test cricket, which came from only 103 deliveries and included 13 fours and three sixes, lofted drives against Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

He started the day on 35, 41 runs behind Clarke, but he had almost caught up with his partner when he was well caught and bowled by Harbhjan in the last over before lunch.

"I was really pleased that I executed the game plan as I wanted to," said Gilchrist. "I started the series with a more flamboyant hundred last time here, but then my game plan failed for the rest of the series [his 122 was followed by scores of 0,0,1 and 1].

"But although there was some nice personal stuff for myself and Michael today the important thing is the position we're in as a team, and it's a strong one.

"The pitch is not breaking up as we predicted. It's very hard and the bigger problems could be posed not by the spinners but by the faster bowlers, with some reverse swing and indifferent bounce."

It was certainly the quicks who caused more problems when India batted. Glenn McGrath was Australia's best bowler on the last tour and he belied his advancing years and carried on here as if an ankle operation had never happened.

He had Aakash Chopra lbw with his fourth delivery and in his next over he bowled Rahul Dravid through the gate to leave India four for two. A stand of 83 between the captain Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag brought the drums and whistles back to life in the stands and proved that the wicket, though very slow, was still playing well.

When Michael Kasprowicz replaced McGrath, Sehwag hit him for two fours through the off side. But when he tried to strike a third, over midwicket, the ball was well caught by the tumbling Justin Langer.

Then, at 91, Ganguly tried to pull Shane Warne, who had come on for Jason Gillespie, and the ball struck Darren Lehmann before rebounding to the vacant short mid-off position as three fielders groped towards the ball.

It was a brief reprieve. With the score on 98 Kasprowicz, who had beaten the India captain with his first two deliveries, found his outside edge and Gilchrist gobbled up the chance. The hosts then lost their fifth wicket at 124 when Yuvraj Singh gave McGrath his third wicket, Gilchrist again taking a simple catch.

But the most prized scalp was the last. VVS Laxman, along with Dravid, has given the Australian bowlers most trouble in recent Tests, even when Sachin Tendulkar has played. But Warne's sharp leg-break was too good and it knocked back his off stump as if it had been punched by a nightclub bouncer.