'It was great to get off the mark' - Clarke

Two cricketers at the opposite ends of their careers faced the media at the end of the first day's play at Bangalore. And at the opposite ends of their tether as well, to judge by the outward appearances of Anil Kumble and Michael Clarke.

Kumble, who had been laid low by a flu virus and managed just six hours' sleep on the eve of the match, was tired but contented after becoming the ninth man in Test history to reach 400 wickets. Australia's boy wonder, Clarke, on the other hand, was utterly unfazed by his achievement in batting for more than four hours on debut to reach an unbeaten 76.

For Kumble, it was the third occasion he had brought up a landmark on home turf, after taking his 100th and 300th wickets here at Bangalore too. "It's just a coincidence," he shrugged. "Somehow it often seems to work out like that. I did start thinking about it as I got closer, but really we just had to get on with the game, and break that partnership [between Simon Katich and Clarke]."

Clarke, for his part, also admitted to nerves, although they were scarcely on show in the course of his innings. "It was great to get off the mark," he admitted, "but obviously the longer I spent out there, the more comfortable I became. Batting with Simon really helped as well - he's at New South Wales now, so it was great to spend time with him. He played really well, and deserved a hundred, but unfortunately he missed out today."

Katich, in the end, became Kumble's landmark victim, as he was bowled off an inside edge for 81. "It's a great honour to have 400 wickets," said Kumble afterwards, before setting his sights even higher than that. "Obviously the next target for me is another 35 wickets, to go past Paaji bhai [Kapil Dev], but it's more important to win this Test, and if I contribute to that then records will take care of themselves. I just want to keep taking wickets, and I feel good at the moment."

Tomorrow it will be Clarke's own milestone that takes centre stage, and if anyone has the self-confidence to get to a hundred on debut, it is he. "Yeah, I hope I can get there," he enthused. "I'll come back tomorrow, aim to put on a good partnership with Adam [Gilchrist], and hopefully get to a hundred."

The pitch was certainly in the batsman's favour. "Good" was Clarke's verdict, Kumble's was "slow". "I'm sure we're getting the best use out of it, by winning the toss and batting," added Clarke, "but on the fourth and fifth days it should break up."

Kumble dismissed suggestions that he had lacked support from Harbhajan Singh, who managed just the one wicket, albeit the big one of Matthew Hayden. "He bowled well, maybe [he was] a bit unlucky. But the wicket was slow, and they looked to get after the spinners, and on a first-day wicket, you can't expect a pair of five-fors and the [opposition] team being bowled out for 200. We still have a very good chance."

Clarke had few problems in facing the Indian pairing, and attributed his expert use of the feet to the schooling from his Indian coach, Neil D'Costa, who sat right there in the press briefing. He added that his prior knowledge of India, where he came with the one-day side last year, helped settle his nerves no end.

"One-day cricket in general has been good to me," added Clarke. "Today was a lot easier as a result. I felt a lot more comfortable with the players and that played a big part. A lot of cricket at the top level is mental, but I backed myself to play in my own way, and fortunately today it came off."