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Australia batsman Justin Langer believes his team has struck a major psychological blow by taking the honours on the opening day of the first Test against India on Thursday.

Langer, whose unbeaten 115 helped the hosts pile up 262 for two, predicted India would struggle to recover after failing to make the most of favourable conditions on the first day of the series.

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India won the toss and sent the Australians in on a green wicket that was difficult to bat on, but the hosts survived the initial onslaught to lay the foundations for a massive total.

"We always aim to win the first day of the series and I think we did that," Langer told a news conference.

"They had very good conditions but we came away from it having lost only two wickets so I think it was a huge day for us."

Langer said Australia captain Steve Waugh told his players he planned to bat first if he won the toss, even though the pitch looked menacing.

"We've learnt our lessons at the Gabba. If you can get through those first 20 overs or so when it's really tough then you can really set up the game," Langer said.

"It was very hard out there, as hard as I've ever seen it, but it started to play okay as long as you watched the ball carefully.

"The Indian bowlers must have thought it was heaven bowling on that wicket. The ball was flying around everywhere and it was scary just watching it from the non-striker's end."

STRONG BATTING

Langer said the key to Australia's strong batting display was to play with confidence even when the bowlers were threatening to dismiss them.

"It takes courage to be aggressive but we know it works. We always back ourselves in that situation. We don't hesitate," Langer said.

"We didn't go out there just to score quickly. There were times when it was really hard to score but I guess we're really good at punishing loose balls."

Indian vice-captain Rahul Dravid said his team did not regret their decision to field first.

Langer was caught off a no-ball when he had just eight runs to his name and the bowlers had a string of confident lbw appeals turned down.

"It was a tough day. I thought we bowled well, everyone was trying hard. Maybe we could have put the ball in better areas but you've got to give credit to the Australians," Dravid said.

"You need a few breaks on a day like this and we probably didn't get the breaks but hopefully tomorrow the rub of the green might go our way."

Dravid conceded that Australia were on top.

"Obviously they had the better of the first day but we will keep fighting tomorrow," he said.

"Just because we lost the first day doesn't mean we have lost the series, we just need to keep fighting and hopefully some of the breaks will start to go our way."