India in complete control as Australia drag MCG scrap to fourth day

India put themselves on the doorstep of one of their finest Test victories as the bowling attack again came to the fore at the MCG to dismantle an increasingly fragile Australia top order. The success was shared equally, but Jasprit Bumrah could easily have had more than the one wicket for his efforts, while the spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja combined with great effect.

For the majority of the time, they were without Umesh Yadav, who, after removing Joe Burns early, limped off with a calf injury and has since been taken for scans. The decision to pick five bowlers, therefore, paid off handsomely for India with Jadeja, following his vital half-century in the innings-defining stand of 121 with Ajinkya Rahane, taking two wickets as he and Ashwin allowed Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to not be overbowled.

At the close of play, Australia had yet to score a half-century in the match. Steven Smith fell for his third single-figure score of the series - bowled behind his pads by Bumrah - and in a 66-over innings they had managed just seven boundaries. There was a dose of controversy thrown in for good measure when Tim Paine was given out caught behind by the DRS, which left the Australia captain fuming as he walked off. But the protocols were followed to the letter when Snicko provided a spike where Hot Spot had not shown a mark.

At that point, Australia had lost three wickets for one run in 23 balls and were lurching towards a three-day defeat, but that was at least avoided as Cameron Green and Pat Cummins ground out 34 in 18 overs to ensure India would need to bat again, although it remained a long way from being a recovery.

A deficit of 131 was sizeable, but less than it might have been for Australia after they claimed India's last five wickets for 32 - following the run-out of Rahane when Jadeja chanced a single for his fifty - amid a barrage of short-pitched bowling at the lower order. However, it was a hefty enough difference that they would need at least 300 to give themselves a realistic chance in the fourth innings but again they produced a limp performance that will leave much head-scratching ahead of the third Test.

There will be increasing desperation that David Warner prove his fitness even though he would be coming in with very little cricket. The Burns Question will again loom large, as it did at the beginning of the series, with the opener failing for the third time in four innings across the two Tests. Burns lived on the edge even during a ten-ball stay; he would have been run-out by a direct hit getting off the mark and was nearly pinned lbw by a searing inswinging yorker from Bumrah before edging an excellent delivery from Yadav. To make things worse, he wasted a review.

Matthew Wade battled against his natural instincts - impressively so - while Marnus Labuschagne scored most of the runs that were on offer but was undone by a wonderful piece of bowling from Ashwin, who slid one across him from around the wicket, which took an edge to slip.

Ashwin, getting the ball to drift, bite and turn, nearly had Smith caught at leg slip in a repeat of the first-innings dismissal during another fascinating battle between the pair, but this time it was India's other leading man - Bumrah - who pulled off a perfectly-worked plan when he bowled Smith behind his legs that many bowlers have tried before him. The ball just clipped the top of leg stump and Smith even set off for a run, scarcely able to believe what had happened. At 71 for 3, still 60 behind, with the two lynchpin batsmen gone, India had made their opening.

Ten overs later came the clatter that will surely decide the game. Wade's 137-ball defiance ended when he played back to Jadeja and was beaten by one that slid on. In another tick to Rahane's captaincy book, Siraj struck with his first ball back when Travis Head edged to second slip to complete twin dismissals of much similarity in the game.

Then there was the wicket that lit up social media, Paine playing a forcing shot off the back foot against Jadeja, which was given not out by Paul Reiffel with Rahane quick to review. The third umpire, Paul Wilson, gave Paine out based on the spike on Snicko, which matched with the ball passing the bat but Paine could not hide his anger.

At 99 for 6, it was there for India to wrap up and they may have got close to doing so had Rishabh Pant gathered a thin edge off Cummins when he nicked Ashwin on 8. As it was, Cummins and Green clung on, taking Australia to parity but with just three bowlers left in the shed. What sort of target would make India nervous? It's been a crazy year, but surely this will be their Test match.