Matt Renshaw was criticised by former Australia captain Allan Border for retiring hurt because of illness in Pune, but teammate Steve O'Keefe was full of praise for what he termed "as resilient a knock as you'll see".
Renshaw, who set foot in India for the first time a week ago, has demonstrated a ton of guts in a pulsating first Test in Pune.
The opener top-scored for Australia in their first-innings total of 260, returning to the crease to score 68 after retiring 15 minutes before lunch on day one.
Renshaw then overcame injury and illness on day two of the contest, scoring 31 as Australia built a lead of 298 runs at stumps.
The 20-year-old was forced to bat at No.5 on Friday because he spent the morning session off the field, still suffering the effects of a stomach bug.
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Further pain - and vomit - came when a Umesh Yadav bouncer cracked Renshaw's exposed forearm. Renshaw took his time but continued to bat, having regained composure with the help of team doctor Peter Brukner.
"He's a tough cookie Matt. Hats off to him," O'Keefe said.
"His 68 set up our game, it was as resilient a knock as you'll see.
"The second innings (he showed resilience) again.
"There's something about a young bloke coming in who doesn't have the scar tissue of previous tours, who's probably a bit naive to the conditions.
"He just sees the ball and hits it and keeps it as simple as possible - and it's working for him."
Renshaw's ill-timed bathroom break infuriated former Border and temporarily Steve Smith, but the opener made it up to his skipper.
"He wasn't too thrilled about it," Renshaw said of Smith's reaction on day one.
"He didn't really understand what was going on at the start, I sort of just ran past him .. he called me back and he wanted to have a discussion with me but I just told him I had to go off.
"But we've had a chat now, we're all good.
"He understands that when you need to go to the toilet, you need to go to the toilet."
Border was highly critical of Renshaw, saying he hopes the opener is "lying on the table in there half dead".
"Otherwise as captain, I would not be happy," Border said on Fox Sports.
