Warner got through a dangerous opening hour before he fell for 43 minutes before lunch, after Australia were sent in to bat under gloomy skies at The Oval.
In a tough opening to the match where the ball was moving, Usman Khawaja went for a duck and Marnus Labuschagne was bowled for 26 shortly after lunch.
Steve Smith (33) and Travis Head (60) have since steadied the ship for Australia, with the latter going at a rapid rate and bringing up his half-century off 60 balls.
But after announcing his planned January 2024 retirement last weekend and with a five-Test Ashes series looming, all eyes were on Warner.
India employed the same tactics as Stuart Broad did at him during the 2019 Ashes, with Mohammed Shami coming around the wicket to the left-hander.
Warner was forced to battle his way through the opening overs, leaving one ball that nipped back close to the stumps and watching another narrowly pass the shoulder of the bat.
At the other end Khawaja was caught behind off Mohammed Siraj when he failed to move his feet, while Labuschagne wore a rising ball from the quick on the right thumb.
But unlike in 2019 when he averaged 9.5 in England, Warner was able to get through the difficult early stages.
He pulled Shami for four when the Indian quick briefly went over the wicket to him for three balls.
He also cut and punched Umesh Yadav to the point and gully boundaries four times in the one over, as a big innings loomed one week out from the first Ashes Test.
But the opener fell in frustrating fashion, gloving a rank short ball down legside from Shardul Thakur through to diving wicketkeeper KS Bharat.
Warner knows only runs will guarantee him the dream Sydney farewell he has planned for next January.
But his start at The Oval will at least help silence any lingering doubts over him playing in the first Ashes Test, after a patch that has included one score above 50 in 16 innings.
When Warner fell and Labuschagne followed after he played all around a relatively straight one from Shami after lunch, Head took over.
The South Australian was flamboyant off his pads and has hit 10 boundaries in his 60, as he continues to shape as the tourists’ answer to England’s ‘BazBall’ phenomenon.
Smith has also looked in good touch, clipping the ball nicely off his toes and hitting an exemplary cover drive off Thakur to the boundary.