Unusually for this series, India was actually on top after day one of the Indore test

60th over: Virat Kohli drives James Neesham through extra-cover for four. A roar.

77th over: Ajinkya Rahane pulls Jeetan Patel in front of midwicket for six. Frenzy in the stands.

These were only two lightweight moments from a mammoth fourth-wicket stand. The press box walls were saturated with glass panes. Television broadcast would only allow ten per cent of the noise to filter in. And yet, if you closed your eyes, maybe you would have been transported to the 2014 Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, when Kohli-Rahane lit up the witnessing stands.

BCCI's experiment with two-tier cities

In reality, when you looked through those glass panes, or listened past the robotic commentary on television, you realise the setting to be in Indore. With its yellow-painted columns, cramped architectural design and primitive facilities, the Holkar Stadium in Indore is nothing like the MCG on a normal day, much less Boxing Day of all. About 30,000 is the capacity here, not a patch on the G’s 100,000-plus seating.

Boy, they can shout though, despite not a drop of beer being available in the stands.

As concerns the BCCI’s experiment to take Test cricket to tier-two cities, this day one alone would deem it a success. The focus now should be on providing better facilities to the spectators so this success can be replicated in other cities where Tests will be played for the first time this season.

Those two words, "first time", held a lot of meaning in Indore on Saturday then. From the teams in white as they stood for national anthems, to the first ball delivered by Trent Boult to Murali Vijay, the first run, the first six, the first extra, the first wicket, one could go on and on, and yet a cricket romantic’s check-list wouldn’t be exhausted. Or so it seemed, until Kohli came to the crease.

Kohli enters the history books

The setting was similar to the first two Tests – win the toss, bat first. India were placed at 60/2, and, later, 100/3 as Gautam Gambhir got out after an impressive cameo on his international return. In both the Kanpur and Kolkata Tests, the hosts lost too many wickets on the first days in a bid to attack the bowlers. Kohli was at the forefront of this list, getting out to shots he didn’t have to play.

His outlook had changed in the second innings at Kolkata, where he was willing to grind. Low bounce on a day three pitch cruelly cut off what was looking like a master-class innings. "Good bowling and a few mistakes" is how he had put it when asked, in the pre-match press conference, why there hadn’t been any hundreds in this series yet.

That particular question was answered with aplomb on day one in Indore as Kohli entered the history books. Let it be said here that New Zealand followed the same strategy that they did in the first two Tests – discipline in their bowling and on the field. They tried their best to choke the scoring, with run-rate not crossing three-per-over in the first two sessions.

It was "good bowling" again, but no "mistakes", at least not from Kohli, nor from Rahane afterwards. With Cheteshwar Pujara looking fluent, as he has done throughout the series, the runs flowed. But after a wickedly turning ball from Mitchell Santner cleaned Pujara up, the hard grind began.

The Indian captain began slow, and never got out of third gear. Even when the cover drives started flowing, he didn’t want to get on top of the bowling, as is his wont. Instead, he looked to get forward and play off his legs, his strongest point. Saturday was about milking the opportunity to bat long on a day one pitch, and making it count.

Rahane is tested

Meanwhile, Rahane was the one who struggled a bit more as he got going. James Neesham explained after the day’s play how the plan was to attack him with short deliveries. Seeing as the batsman was out caught pulling in Kolkata, maybe they had something to go with. Rahane was tested, and twice he fended off the short stuff with his arm-guard, and once his pull fell short of square leg.

Their two knocks were a study in contrast. Kohli looked to bat long, and yet it seemed as if he was in the moment more than his partner. Rahane found his attacking self more regularly, but looked as if he could get out at any instant. There were periods when Santner and Jeetan Patel beat the duo in successive overs. Crucially though, they couldn’t produce a wicket, neither of Rahane, nor of Kohli.

Together they didn’t give a sniff to the opposition, and the best chance came when Neesham hit the stumps directly on Kohli’s 100th run. He was in, safely, and the celebration that followed – a gesture for training assistant Raghu and batting coach Sanjay Bangar who help him with throw-downs during nets – showcased how this series has been a work in progress for Kohli as a batsman.

From attack to grind – that was the underlying point of day one’s action. For the first time in this series, thanks to this 167-run stand, India are in a position to bat New Zealand out of the game. On day two, it will be about making good on this promise, for this Indore pitch will turn and quickly.