The debutant opener Ed Cowan feels Australia have their noses in front after an absorbing first day's play in the Boxing Day cricket Test against India at the MCG.
The home side will resume day two on 277 for 6 after recovering from a late afternoon wobble as Brad Haddin (21no) and tailender Peter Siddle (34no) shared an unbeaten 63-run stand.
Earlier the Indian bowlers had taken three wickets for the addition of just nine runs to leave the hosts reeling on 214 for six.
Cowan (68) and veteran Mike Hussey (0) both trudged off the MCG shaking their heads after being given out caught behind despite not appearing to hit the ball and having no avenue of appeal.
Their dismissals highlighted the problems caused by the Indian board's refusal to use the technology of the Decision Review System (DRS) during this four-Test series.
The crowd figure of 70,068 was a record for Australia-India Test matches in Australia.
Another big crowd is expected on Tuesday with India's Sachin Tendulkar attempting to become the first player to score 100 centuries in Tests and one-day internationals.
