Australia had the edge in Bangalore, the brownie points belonged to India but the second Test in Mohali could see something more.

Both India and Australia would be looking for an outright win in the second Test beginning Friday.

If the see-saw first Test, spiced up by some on-field banters and post-match jibe, is any inklings of things to come, a high-strung humdinger is very much on the cards and both Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting are desperate to ensure they don't end up on the wrong side of the five-day drama.

And if still anyone felt it would not be rivetting enough, Sachin Tendulkar will feature in the sideshow on the sidelines as he tries to knock off those 15 runs to topple Brian Lara from the top of the highest run accumulator's chart in the longer version of the game.

The jury is still out on which side gained most from the drawn tie in Bangalore after both returned with honours more or less even.

Apparently, Australia did have the hosts on the mat for a while but in the end, it was Kumble's men who claimed a moral victory by forcing a draw.

For India, lot of positives came out of the Bangalore match where the pacers rocked, one half of the spin attack stung, tail wagged and the senior players dug deep into their vast reserve of experience and batted out the tricky fifth day to save the match.

The lone blot was Kumble going wicket-less, a rarity at home, and then compounding his crisis by injuring his shoulder.

Kumble was less than amused by the criticism and clamour for his retirement after one bad outing and despite the pain in his shoulder, the Indian captain is almost a certain to walk out for the toss tomorrow. "He is a warrior and is very keen to play. I'm almost sure that regardless of what he is physically, he would be ready to represent the country," coach Gary Kirsten said.

Kumble himself was optimistic of playing on Friday.

"It's lot better today and we still have full 24 hours before taking a call," the Indian captain said.

The 'Fab Four' may not have set alight the series yet but the experience they bring in is simply invaluable and all made their nice, little contribution in Bangalore, something their coach was more than happy to acknowledge.

"What is important is that everyone got some time in the middle. They made some sort of contribution to the side. It was not big scores but still some sort of contribution and that too in pressure situations," Kirsten said.

And with Zaheer and Harbhajan suddenly discovering that they could wield the willow as well to some effect, the tail has enough sting to frustrate the Australian attack.

Despite managing 16 of the 20 Australian wickets in Bangalore, India's bowling unit looks a potent one with Zaheer, having reached his meridian, finding an exciting new ball colleague in Ishant Sharma and the left-right combination have probed and posed a serious threat to the visitors in the first Test.

The mere sight of an Australian brings out the best in Harbhajan and the feisty offie gave a good account of himself in Bangalore, both with the bat and the ball.

Drizzles over the last few days have left much moisture in the track and though there is a temptation of fielding Munaf Patel as the third seamer, India is unlikely to fiddle with the bowling unit equilibrium. In contrast, Australia, rather reluctantly, might have to hand over a Test cap to either Peter Siddle or Doug Bollinger as Stuart Clark's elbow injury has created a cloud of doubt over his availability for the match.

Clark's possible absence would come as music to the ears of the Indian batsmen, who often reeled under the claustrophobic accuracy of the the Australian metronome.

In Clark's possible absence, the workload would only increase for spearhead Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. Lee looked threatening in Bangalore but one wicket in each innings meant the hosts did a decent job of seeing him through.

In contrast, Johnson's ability to reverse swing the ball has caused some consternation in the Indian batting order and the left-arm pacer would surely relish the tormentor's role here again.

Injury to others and providence cleared the decks for Cameron White's Bangalore debut but the leg-spinning all-rounder, whose scalped Tendulkar for his first Test victim, may have his real test at Mohali.

Fortunately, Ponting has no major worries with the batting order. Matthew Hayden looks rusty after the injury lay-off while Michael Clarke is yet to bloom but the captain himself has shrugged a huge monkey off his back and Michael Hussey is rock solid in the middle.

Ponting is in India on a redemption mission and the century in Bangalore was a statement of intent that he was here to rewrite his otherwise dismal record in India.

Hussey on the other hand has the perfect temperament to hang in and has apparently mastered the rather unglamorous craft of grafting.

The series has already seen the sparks flying in Bangalore though none overstepped the line and Brett Lee hinted the intensity level is unlikely to drop over the next five days.

Having sparred, scratched and sized up each other in Bangalore, both parties now have a better idea about each other's vulnerability and whoever plans and executes better would go into the third Test with a 1-0 lead.

Teams from: India: Anil Kumble (c), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir Sourav Ganguly, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma and RP Singh.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (c), Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson Simon Katich, Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin (wk), Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson, Cameron White and Bryce McGain