Smith and Maxwell dominate day one

Maligned and contrite since his 'brain fade' at Bengaluru last week, Steve Smith responded in the manner he understands best and embraces closest by scoring a patient century on day one of the third Test at Ranchi.

Smith finished a day that was largely as beige as the previous Test had proved incandescent undefeated on 117 and with the destiny of the match currently in his team's hands with a stumps score of 4-299.

Quick Single: Another milestone for prolific Smith

He found a willing if unlikely collaborator to shore up and then forge forward Australia's innings after the regular loss of early wickets, with recalled allrounder Glenn Maxwell knuckling down for his highest Test score that currently stands at 82 not out.

And producing the largest batting partnership to date – 159 with potentially more to add – in a series that has been as heavily dominated by the ball as it has been tinged by acrimony and controversy.

Smith has found himself a lightning rod for much of that bad blood, after admitting to having breached the game's playing conditions by looking to the team viewing area when deliberating the merits of calling for a DRS review in the second Test.

But as misfortune befell his fellow villain in that episode – India captain Virat Kohli who sustained a shoulder injury while fielding – Smith channelled any inner angst into batting.

Quick Single: Kohli exits action after fielding mishap

Which comes as no surprise to anyone who has spent more than the most cursory time with the cricket-obsessed 27-year-old.

The relief and delight that Smith exuded when he punched part-time spinner Murali Vijay to the long-off boundary to reach his 19th Test hundred and push his career average out past 60 painted a stark contrast to his on-field opponents who – with just one notable exception – refused to acknowledge the Australian's milestone.

But even with a solid day's work under their belts and a virtual 300 on the scoreboard, Smith and Maxwell will resume in the morning aiming to replicate the gains already made.

And push their first innings out towards the 500-plus score they spoke about leading into this watershed campaign as the minimum requirement against such a potent opposition, on a pitch that will only get tougher to bat upon as sunny days and heavy foot traffic roll across it.

The Australians also preached the virtues of adaptability long and loud since well before landing in India more than a month ago, and it was a mantra that held them in good stead today.

That's because the Ranchi pitch that was forecast to be less palatable than Assam's jolokia (or ghost) chilli proved to be as tame as grandma's curried tuna, and the tourists' batting plans and collective mindset had to alter accordingly.

When it became clear there was no biting turn, only the occasional absence of bounce and virtually no movement in the dry, desert air of Jharkand state the Australians knew patience would be key.

Defence became the asset prized above all else, in the knowledge that boundaries would come by dint of the lightning fast outfield if not through rare acts of profligacy from India's bowlers.

And even when three wickets fell in the opening session – two of them to preventable lapses by batters – the blueprint was adhered to and the rewards slowly reaped.

As would be expected, Smith led the way with another innings of great maturity and profound concentration, with a splash of adaptation to accommodate the conditions.

In the knowledge that the danger on this pitch would be deliveries that shot low from the curious dark patches at either end, Smith's movement across his stumps became even more exaggerated to ensure he was jamming down hard on anything that pitched full.

And deftly turning or killing the few balls that landed back of a length, with bowlers not wasting their energy trying to extract any venom from such a lifeless expanse of baked dirt.

India rummaged through the tricks bag to try and find a way to break the pair's concentration and possibly their partnership.

From regular appeals for the ball to be changed, to the introduction of part-time spinner Murali Vijay and eventually a comically clumsy effort by keeper Wriddhiman Saha to pluck the ball that he thought Smith (on 97) had bottom-edged between his knees where it became lodged.

The gloveman's apparent attempt to claim a catch off a ball already deemed dead only slightly less implausible than his teammates' entreaties to an incredulous umpire Ian Gould that it was a legitimate dismissal.

Apart from a wicket, India's most glaring absence in the latter portion of a day that ultimately belonged to Australia was Kohli, who was reduced to spectator for a session-and-a-half and whose competitive spirit was palpably lacking.

Kohli damaged his right shoulder when he successfully executed a diving save to prevent a boundary near the long-on boundary rope in the hour after the lunch break.

When he left the field with team physiotherapist (and former New South Wales medico) Patrick Farhat the initial prognosis from within the India camp was he was receiving some ice treatment and would return to the field shortly afterwards.

But as 20 overs, then the tea break, then a further session ticked by with Kohli's deputy Ajinkya Rahane at the helm it became clear that the captain's ailment was more significant than a bout of jarring as first thought.

As some had suggested might not be a bad idea in the wake of the incendiary second Test at Bengaluru last week, Kohli spent much of the day's last half applying a cold compress.

By stumps, there was no clearer picture of if or how it might impact on the talismanic skipper's involvement on subsequent days of the current Test, but his energy was notably lacking as India struggled to find a breakthrough.

Having got the better of the first session after falling to wrong side of the coin toss.

For all the frothing about the Ranch pitch and whether it would offer any bounce, it was a ball that didn't which brought about the first Australia wicket to fall needlessly.

David Warner's inability to pack his Test run-scoring deeds in Australia when he jets away – he has not scored a century offshore (including Tasmania) since Dubai in 2014 – continues to haunt him.

With today's dismissal only likely to fuel further nightmares, bunting a low full-toss from spinner Ravindra Jadeja that might have been put anywhere in or outside of the ground straight back into the bowler's hand.

A wicket that could not be attributed to the pitch's vagaries nor the bowler's subtleties, with blame resting entirely with the Australia vice-captain who looked beyond exasperated as he left the field.

It was the same look that his opening partner Matthew Renshaw wore an hour later when also acted as the architect of his own demise.

Quick Single: Renshaw breaks 119-year Aussie record

The ball after his attempted glide to third man landed disconcertingly short of second slip, he repeated the same high-risk stroke only to have it slide even finer from the face of the bat and into the hands of Kohli at first slip.

Even the wicket of Shaun Marsh a couple of overs later was scarcely the conjuring of a devilish pitch, the left-hander beaten more by Ravi Ashwin's drift in the air than turn off the track that tickled an inside edge and was sharply caught off bat-pad in the same eponymous fielding spot.

And there was no way the pitch played a hand in Peter Handscomb's removal immediately after he and Smith posted their 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

Umesh Yadav's inswinging yorker crashing into Handscomb's right foot before the Victorian was able to jam his bat in between and he knew better than to discuss any likely review with his skipper as he made his way to the dressing room.

Not daring to make eye contact with teammates sitting there, either.

Australia at that point rested rather uncomfortably at 4-140 on a pitch that looked decidedly unattractive and copped more than its share of pre-game trolling, but emerged comparatively blemish free come game day.

But Maxwell, playing his first Test in more than two years and who routinely cops as much hate mail on social media as did the Ranchi pitch in some section of the mainstream, knuckled down for the longest innings of his international career to date.

And one that might yet help further his burning ambition to prove himself a red-ball player of substance and not just a pantomime act in the shorter forms.