Australia was forced to follow-on on home soil for the first time in 30 years after being dismissed for 300 as India went for the jugular in search of a maiden series triumph Down Under on the fourth day of the final Test on Sunday.
Australia will resume on six without a loss on Monday, still without a century in the series and 316 runs adrift of India’s mammoth first innings effort of 622/7 declared.
England was the last team to force Oz to follow-on at home in the drawn 1988 Sydney Test, a result the hosts are unlikely to repeat unless the weather intervenes decisively.
The tourists, leading 2-1 in the four-test series, only need a draw to secure the win Down Under.
But skipper Virat Kohli did not hesitate to send the hosts back in when they fell well short of the 423 runs needed to avoid the follow-on.
EASY DECISIONS: Virat Kohli. Photo: PETER CZIBORRA/Reuters
Play in Sydney got under way almost four hours late, with the hosts resuming on 236/6 and India needed just 80 minutes to take the remaining Australian wickets at a cost of 64 runs.
Mohammed Shami set India on their way when he took the second new ball immediately and removed Pat Cummins’s off stump with the sixth delivery of the day to dismiss his fellow paceman for 25.
But spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the star of the show, claiming 5/99.
The left-arm claimed the scalps of Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Tim Paine, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.