Squirming at 27 for two inside 11 overs with two of the premier batsmen back in the hut, India seemed in a spot of bother before Gambhir raised 130 runs with Sachin Tendulkar (68) and another unbroken 139 with VVS Laxman (54 not out) to help the hosts reach a comfortable 296 for three wickets at stumps. Gambhir and Laxman will resume on Thursday to consolidate India's position in the match.

Gambhir's career-best 285-ball knock was studded with 20 boundaries and a six, while Laxman hit three fours en route to an unbeaten fifty.

With fit-again captain Anil Kumble calling it correct at the toss of coin, India got just what they wanted – leaving Australia with the dreadful proposition of batting last on the notoriously spin-friendly Ferozeshah Kotla track.

The decision to bat first, however, appeared to have boomeranged in the first hour itself with Virender Sehwag (1) and Rahul Dravid (11) cooling their heels in the pavilion.

Sehwag's stay at his home turf was cut short to just two deliveries. Brett Lee rapped the leaden-footed right hander with the one that came in and if lack of feet movement did Sehwag in, Dravid perished to poor shot selection.

Bowling only his fourth ball of the match, first change bowler Mitchell Johnson angled it across and Matthew Hayden collected Dravid's ugly poke at ankle height in the first slip.

Graveness of the situation didn't warrant anything silly and understandably, Gambhir curbed his natural aggressive strokeplay to some extent even though loose balls never went unpunished.

At the other end, Tendulkar was his fluent self, overtaking Gambhir in no time with some scintillating back foot shots that raced to the boundary.

Tendulkar hit Johnson for back-to-back boundaries to get into the groove but it was his copybook cover drive off Brett Lee, which stood out for its sheer precision.

The duo raised 130 runs for the third wicket to put the house in order but were separated in the last over before tea when Tendulkar perished caught behind off Johnson after an effortless 68 that came off 124 balls with 11 fours in it.

With Laxman determined to get some runs under his belt, there was no respite for the Aussies. And by then, Gambhir too was in his elements, even if his aggression spilt over on a couple of occasions when he got engaged in war of words -- first with Shane Watson and then with Simon Katich.

Once he broke into the 90s, Gambhir hit Johnson for two fours in an over to reach 99 and then brought up his third Test century in style, launching Watson over the long-on rope for the maximum.