Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes his players will continue to snuff out the threat of India's spinners in the second Test which begins in Mohali on Friday.

Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh claimed just three victims between them in the first match of the four-game series, which was drawn in Bangalore, with the India skipper going wicketless for only the third time in his 131-Test career.

To compound matters, Kumble did not take the field after lunch on the fourth day of the due to a sore shoulder, although he returned to bowl a few overs after tea on the same day.

Ponting said: "Going into a Test match with two spinners, they would be pinning their hopes on Harbhajan and Kumble to take the majority of the wickets.

"As it turned out it was their fast bowlers who made the most impact on the game.

"I spoke to Kumble after the game and he said he had a bit of tendonitis and he expected to be fit for the second Test.

"But I think you got to give our batsmen credit for the way they played him in this game.

"We have played him well and we also played Harbhajan well for the majority of the game too.

"I'm sure we would be able to do that in the remaining Test matches as well.

"There are lots of good signs there for us there."

India's left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan took five first-innings wickets and, together with fellow paceman Ishant Sharma, accounted for 13 of the 16 Australian wickets to fall.

While Ponting agreed the pressure to perform would be building on the Indian captain, he said his team was focusing on the areas which they have to improve on.

"The fact that we were able to keep him wicketless is a big bonus for us," he said.

"And extra pressure will come on the captain if he is not performing.

"We have got to make sure that Zaheer doesn't get five wickets in this game.

"There certainly are areas we need to focus on. We are not going to focus so much on what Anil hasn't done in the last game.

"We are focusing on the areas which we have to improve on."

Ponting said the fact that Sachin Tendulkar did not surpass Brian Lara's world record for runs in Test cricket would also work in his team's favour.

Tendulkar, needing 64 runs at the start of the second innings, fell 15 short of overtaking Lara on the list of the highest run-getters.

"There's no doubt that its weighing on his mind. That's something that's always in the back of your head.

"He looked like he would get it in Bangalore, but he didn't and he's going to have to think about it going into the next game as well.

"That's a good positive sign for us as well."

There has been plenty of speculation over the careers of the senior players in the Indian team - Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Kumble.

Ganguly has already announced he will retire at the end of the series, but Kumble, who turns 38 on Friday, said he would not bow out without a fight.

"I am hopeful the shoulder injury I picked up during the match would be fine by the second Test and that it will be business as usual thereafter," said Kumble in a newspaper column.

"I can't promise things I have no control over, but the one thing that I can guarantee is that I won't give up the fight. We won't.

"The belief that I have in my team, and the belief that the team has in me is what matters the most.

"When I decide to make a final bow, I'll go on my own terms."