India hopeful despite letting Aussies off hook

India had the Australians reeling at 134 for six just after lunch but let the home team off the hook as they rallied to reach stumps on 376-7.

Paceman Rudra Pratap (RP) Singh (4-108) and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (2-88) had combined to rip through the Australian top-order in the first half of the day but the tourists failed to ram home their advantage as luck conspired against them.

Andrew Symonds (137 not out) and Brad Hogg (79) turned the match around with a record seventh-wicket partnership of 173, although Symonds enjoyed some early good fortune.

He was given the benefit of the doubt when caught behind on 30 off Ishant Sharma then survived a stumping appeal on 48 off skipper Anil Kumble.

Symonds made the most of his let-offs to complete his second Test hundred but RP Singh said India were still well in the match because the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch was playing so well.

"There's still three more wickets to go but I think the pitch is still pretty slow and we have a great batting line-up," he told a news conference.

"I actually think it's going to be a better batting wicket tomorrow (Thursday) because the wicket is now so slow."

BOWLED SUPERBLY

RP Singh was thrust into the role of leading the Indian pace attack after Zaheer Khan withdrew from the match at the last minute because of a heel injury but handled his promotion well, bowling superbly to capture four prized wickets.

The left-arm seamer dismissed openers Phil Jaques and Matthew Hayden in the first hour of play then snared the scalps of Mike Hussey and Adam Gilchrist after lunch as the Australian middle-order crumbled.

He picked up his first wicket in the third over of the day when Jaques slashed at a short ball and top-edged a simple catch to wicketkeeper Mahendra Dhoni before he had scored a run.

Then Hayden departed for 13 in the ninth over when he was squared up and edged the ball to the safe hands of Sachin Tendulkar at first slip.

RJ Singh combined with Tendulkar for both his wickets after lunch, dismissing Hussey for 41 and Gilchrist for seven before the Australians launched their fightback.

The 22-year-old admitted he was initially anxious when told he would have to lead the attack but drew on his experiences as a teenager at the Australian Cricket Academy several years ago.

"I spent almost 45 days there... and I learnt a lot about Australian conditions," he said.