The batting gains India had hoped for didn't totally eventuate at the Manuka Oval against an attack — for want of a better word — that posed no more than the most modest of challneges.
Wasim Jaffer did make a polished, attractive half-century and Rahul Dravid kicked on from his confidence-generating stints in the Sydney Test, but there wasn't such good news on the Yuvraj Singh front. Similarly, neither Virender Sehwag nor Dinesh Kaarthick did enough to seriously stake their claims for a place in the eleven for the Perth Test.
It's not as if big runs against the honest but hardly threatening ACT Invitational XI bowling would have necessarily meant a return to form, and that's precisely what must worry tour captain Anil Kumble no end. The leggie watched from the sidelines as his mates — minus VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, but nevertheless a formidable batting line-up — posted no more than 325 for nine when Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who opted to bat first, applied the closure.
In four overs to the close on Thursday's day one of the three-day tie, the home team had reached 10 without loss. On a decent track that offered the bowlers some encouragement when the ball was hard and new in terms of both bounce and movement, it was essential for the men who have struggled for runs in the first two Tests to cash in. Jaffer gave himself and the think-tank some heart by spending nearly four hours in the middle, finding his feet after a short period of uncertainty before opening out to play typically handsome strokes, but Yuvraj continued to disappoint as he carried on from his diffident ways of four unsuccessful Test innings.
Equally worryingly, neither Sehwag nor Kaarthick showed the hunger or desire to place a selectorial conundrum in front of the team management. Sehwag was all miss and miss for the first part of his hour and a half stint. Just when the feet were starting to move and the ball was beginning to find the middle of the bat on a regular basis, he went hard at a delivery from Luke Swards, only to see home captain Mark Higgs pull off a sensational catch leaping high to his right at second slip.
The hard-working Swards, getting the ball to jag around, also accounted for the positive-minded Kaarthick. Having begun fluently with punchy drives down the ground as he stood well outside his crease to negate any swing, the right-hander fetched Swards from well outside off and pulled him to mid-on, becoming the second batsman to throw away a start.
Heavy outfield
The heaviness of the outfield minimised the value of strokes, so Jaffer found an uncharacteristic way of getting a move on as he first hooked left-arm paceman Ash Perera over square-leg, then upper-cut Richard Sherlock for sixes. Leg-spinner Ryan Bulger was treated with the contempt he deserved, Jaffer and Dravid latching on to him during an entertaining 93-run third-wicket stand.
Bogged down with his century in sight, Jaffer fell to Higgs' left-arm spin a little before tea, holing out to long-on and triggering a mini-collapse as India lost three for 23. Yuvraj's miserable little stay, marked by tentativeness and a clear absence of self-belief, was terminated by Perera. A backfooted, half-hearted punch picked out gully as he followed up scores of 0, 5, 12 and 0 in the Tests with 2 here. Quickly, he is showing signs of going from a gamble to a luxury which India simply can't afford. The left-hander will get another chance in the next couple of days to make amends, otherwise he could warm the bench in Perth.
Dhoni and Irfan Pathan helped themselves to a few each, but at the end of the day, several key questions stayed unanswered. The form and approach of Yuvraj remains the biggest concern, both for the batsman himself and his captain, who worked the batting order around to accommodate him in the Test eleven.

SCORE BOARD

INDIANS (I Innings): Wasim Jaffer c J Rogers b Higgs 92 (235m, 191b, 8x4, 2x6), Virender Sehwag c Higgs b Swards 24 (88m, 49b,1x4),  Dinesh Kaarthick c Perera b Swards 25 (47m, 39b, 3x4), Rahul Dravid c Crosthwaite b Perera 62 (136m, 91b, 9x4), Yuvraj Singh c Dean b Perera 2 (20m, 15b), Mahendra Singh Dhoni c & b Ritchard 38 (57m, 37b, 6x4), Irfan Pathan c Bulger b Swards 33 (86m, 52b, 5x4), Harbhajan Singh c Crosthwaite b Bulger 0 (4m, 3b), Rudra Pratap Singh c Crosthwaite b Ritchard 12 (14m, 18b, 2x4), Pankaj Singh (not out) 5 (22m, 12b), Vikram Rajvir Singh (not out) 4 (2m, 2b, 1x4). Extras (B-5, LB-9, W-8, NB-5) 28. Total (for 9 wkts decl, 84 overs) 325
Fall of wickets: 1-66 (Sehwag), 2-117 (Kaarthick), 3-210 (Jaffer), 4-220 (Yuvraj), 5-233 (Dravid), 6-288 (Dhoni), 7-291 (Harbhajan), 8-304 (RP Singh), 9-321 (Pathan).
Bowling: Richard Sherlock 17-4-72-0 (w-8, nb-1), Ash Perera 15-3-40-2 (nb-2), Luke Swards 17-2-45-3, Adam Ritchard 18-1-71-2 (nb-1), Ryan Bulger 12-0-70-1 (nb-2), Mark Higgs 5-0-13-1.

ACT INVITATIONAL XI (I Innings): Chris Rogers (batting) 2 (17m, 9b), Ed Cowan (batting) 8 (17m, 15b, 1x4). Total (for no loss, 4 overs) 10.
Bowling: Irfan Pathan 2-1-5-0, Ishant Sharma 2-1-5-0.