STUMPS: Australia 6-354

David Warner moved into the company of Invincibles on one of Australian cricket's hardest days.

He held himself together and honoured his friend and he did it in the blazing style he knows best with his 10th and greatest century at Adelaide Oval. 

David Warner looked to the sky after reaching 63 not out. Photo: Getty Images

Warner's 145 was laden with emotion but tempered by concern for captain Michael Clarke, whose future is in doubt all over again after twisting his back as an innocuous bouncer from Ishant Sharma sailed past him before tea.

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The Australians were 6-354 at stumps, and could bat one short because of Clarke's injury, after India fought back to claim three late wickets with the second new ball. Steve Smith is unbeaten on 72.

Warner used to be a ratbag Twenty20 batsman but he is much more than that now. The only other Australians who have notched 10 or more centuries after 33 Tests were members of Don Bradman's 1948 'Invincibles' team: Bradman himself (18 hundreds), Neil Harvey (12) and Arthur Morris (10).  

In 2014 he has made 959 runs at 73.76 in seven matches. No batsman in the world has scored more than his five hundreds this year. 

But no set of numbers can capture the meaning of Warner's achievement on the first day of the series against India, exactly a fortnight after he held Phillip Hughes' hand while he received emergency treatment after being hit by a bouncer at the SCG.

He was said to be one of the players most affected by the tragedy, and hardly faced any fast bowling in the days leading up to the first Test.

Michael Clarke was applauded as he came on to bat. Photo: Getty Images

But the 28-year-old punctured the hype around India's pace attack with seven boundaries from his first 15 balls. Most pierced the covers or sped behind point. Only one lacked conviction, an upper-cut from a Varun Aaron bouncer that dribbled to the rope.

"Coming out and playing the way I did there was a lot of adrenaline there," Warner told Channel Nine. "That was all instinct – and that's how I play. I knew the little man up there was with me ... it all fell into place."

Aaron, the quickest of the Indian pace troupe, bowled the first short ball of the match, which Warner ducked under to warm applause from an Adelaide crowd pleased to get back to something resembling normal service. But generally the tourists bowled full with the new ball, searching for edges.

Warner's 50 came up from 45 balls, his hundred from 106. On 63 not out, he paused to take a long look at the heavens, before composing himself and forging on.

"It's something that was in the back of my mind. I owed that to him," Warner said. "It's going to be a special number for all of us for years to come."

While Warner and Clarke were at the crease, Australia was dominant. They shared a partnership of 118 and a long, tight hug after Warner pushed a single through the covers to reach his century. He took off his helmet, and held it to his heart, his lips and to the sky before Clarke wrapped him up in the middle of the Adelaide Oval pitch. 

Warner dedicated his knock to Hughes. "I [usually] like to do a bit of a celebration, but that was definitely for him today," he said. "He was there [opening with me in the Sheffield Shield] when I scored my first hundred ... and I dedicated that hundred to him today."

It was a gamble for Clarke to play in this Test, but it meant so much for him to lead Australia in the first match since Hughes' death that it was one the selectors were prepared to take. The only concession was that he would not field in the slips.

Clarke was playing well with cut-down pull shots, as an apparent nod to his fragile body, and some spritely drives. But Clarke's comeback from the hamstring injury sustained on November 14 lasted just 84 balls. 

Aaron had been quick to test out the Australian captain's mobility with a couple of early bouncers, but it was the slightest of twisting motions that caused him to grimace and retire hurt on 60.

Brad Haddin will deputise for Clarke if he can't return but the man tipped to eventually replace him as Australian captain, Smith, took control of the innings. He and Mitch Marsh were untroubled by the spinners when they came together but Marsh was caught in the gully off Aaron for 41. Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon and Haddin fell in the half-hour before stumps. 

India's most experienced bowler, Ishant, was their best but he wasn't given the new ball. He tempted Chris Rogers (9) into a loose drive to have the left-hander caught at second slip. Shane Watson (14) went the same way to Aaron, who fought back after conceding 22 from his first three overs. 

India made one surprising selection, choosing leg-spinner Karn Sharma ahead of off spinner Ravi Ashwin, and it was Karn who eventually picked up the wicket of Warner, holing out to mid-wicket. 

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