Melbourne: Australian opener Chris Rogers Friday praised out-of-form teammate Shane Watson as they stitched together a useful partnership to bail the hosts out of trouble on day one of the third Test against India here.

Watson, under pressure due to a lean phase with the bat, joined Rogers at the crease with Australia in early trouble losing in-form David Warner without a run on the board.

They put on 115 for the second wicket to steer Australia to a position of strength just after lunch.

Rogers was dismissed for 57 and Watson went in the next over (52), judged leg before wicket after failing to connect a sweep off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

But Rogers was impressed with what he saw of his teammate.

“I thought he played very well today – particularly soft hands on the off side,” Rogers said. “That gave us a bit of momentum as well, so all credit to him.”

He also said that they enjoyed their stay in the middle and helped ease the pressure on each other.

“We enjoy being out there together (and) we have a bit of a laugh. Maybe the different styles as well – he goes at them pretty hard and I let them come at me a little bit,” he said.