Watson's ton of experience saves the day

Shane Watson stands in way of fighting India

Day 1 Australia 224 for 5 (Watson 101*, Ponting 71, Zaheer 3-45) v India

MOHALI: Shane Watson last night credited his stint in the inaugural Indian Premier League tournament for his ease with Indian conditions, having stroked his second Test century

Ponting won the toss and batted, making 71 runs for himself

Watson's unbeaten 101 anchored the tourists.Watson has spent some gut-wrenching periods in the nineties during his 21 Tests.

Watson, who hit successive centuries in the practice match, played a cautious innings, watching carefully after lunch and grinding out his runs after some early lifelines, including two dropped catches and two missed run-out chances before he'd reached 50. At one stage it took him 10 overs to score one run, and he brought up his ton from 258 balls in 5½ hours.

Watson and Tim Paine (one not out) will resume today desperate to forge a second meaningful partnership after the opener and his captain put on 141 runs for the second wicket.

Country before IPL says Clarke

AUSTRALIA vice-captain Michael Clarke believes cricketers must make wiser career choices before they complain about the demands made on them by a hectic schedule.

On the day Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger belatedly joined the Australian squad after winning the Twenty20 Champions League with Chennai in South Africa, Clarke spoke firmly about the fact that players could dictate their own career path.

The 29-year-old has been arguably the most high-profile player in the world not participating in the lucrative Indian Premier League, preferring to concentrate on representing his country around the world and spending the remainder of his time at home.

"For me we all have a choice, you don't have to play IPL, you don't have to play Champions League," Clarke said on Tuesday.

"For me personally right now it's about representing my country, and every game I have to play for Australia, I'm going to do that - that's my priority.

"The toughest thing for them getting used to the conditions is in the pitch, change of format and then how hot it is," he said.

"But the guys just played the three-day practice game and that was our first game and a lot of the guys performed there.

"I don't see any reason why Dougy and Huss can't come straight in, they've both got experience in Indian conditions, so I'm very confident they'll be fine with a couple of training days under their belt.

"Who knows what's going to happen with Champions League, IPL and then your Test series, how things coincide, but for this tour we've got to accept it, it's not ideal, but as long as the guys are fresh it also about getting yourself fit and as well prepared as you can."