Ponting scores first century in India

A satisfied Ricky Ponting said his century on the first day of the first Test against India in Bangalore was as pleasing as any of the 35 he'd already made for Australia.

Indian hopes of a fruitful start in the field were lifted when Matthew Hayden departed to the third ball of the match, but Ponting's 123, his 36th Test century and first on the subcontinent, allowed the tourists to stride to 4-254 by the close on an unblemished pitch after winning the toss.

Simon Katich (66) and Ponting put together a patient 166-run stand in 227 minutes from 325 balls to lay a sound foundation for the innings.

"I'm as pleased with that innings today as I've been with any innings I've ever played," Ponting said.

"I'd played eight Tests here with a highest score of 60 so I had some work to do and I guess I had a point to prove to a few people as well I suppose.

"It was satisfying today."

When reminded of the captaincy statistic, Ponting grinned.

"Look, I should've been captain a lot earlier, there's no doubt about that," he joked.

"I actually saw the scoreboard today and found out that I've now scored the most hundreds as captain, I don't know those sorts of things but it's been a good day for me today, it's always nice to get a Test hundred, let alone your first one here in these conditions, so I'm satisfied with that, I'm more satisfied with the position the team's in."

After a history of failures in India characterised by starting his innings against wily spinners on turning pitches, Ponting admitted it had helped him a lot to start against the new ball, despite the jolt of Matthew Hayden's first over dismissal.

"It probably helps, yeah, it's probably the hardest for any batsman to tell you the truth to start against spin, especially with a really soft ball like it was today, it's just really hard to get through the field," he said.

"The other tours I've had here apart from the last Test I played (in 2004) I think I batted number six in those other Test matches and you're always coming in against spin then, usually on wickets that have worn quite a bit.

"I think that's one thing that probably does stand out in my career, whenever I've been in early, when the team's been in a bit of trouble I've managed to make runs, and today I guess it was nice to get out there early against the new ball and probably a role a bit more familiar in these conditions and probably have 20-30 to my name before the spinners came on."

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