While India on Tuesday dropped both its openers -- Lokesh Rahul and Murali Vijay, Australia made one change to their playing 11, bringing in Mitchell Marsh in place of Peter Handscomb for the third test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Rahul has scored only 48 runs in four innings this series, which includes a highest of 44 in the second innings at the first Test in Adelaide. On the other hand, Vijay has scored just 49 runs from the four innings, including a highest of 20 in the second innings in the Perth Test.
The Indian openers have scored just 95 runs between them in eight innings of the first two tests in Adelaide and Perth. Meanwhile, the Indian selectors opted for left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, has recovered sufficiently from his shoulder stiffness, and debutant Mayank Agarwal, who is expected to open with Hanuma Vihari.
Jadeja's inclusion comes after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was ruled out of the third Test, who needs more time to recover from left abdominal strain.
Batsman Rohit Sharma has also been declared fit after he missed the Perth test, but ace pacer Umesh Yadav has been left out.
"Our aim is to put enough runs on the board to help our bowlers capitalize. And if we are batting second, we try to amass enough lead if the situation allows or at least match the target of the opposition's total," Indian skipper Virat Kohli told reporters on the eve of the third test.
"Our batsmen need to step up collectively. I won't point out anyone individually whether someone needs to do that or not, but as a batting unit, we have to definitely put up a better performance," he said.
Australian skipper Tim Paine said his bowlers have had a really big workload and the selectors felt the team needed Marsh's bowling. Handscomb's highest score in the last four innings has been just 34.
"We think Mitch can come in and do a really good job with the bat and, obviously, he will be great support for our bowlers," Paine told reporters.
Playing XI:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia: Tim Paine (Captain-wicketkeeper) Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
With the fourth Test starting on January 3, the Indians are now in with a chance to register their first ever series win on Australian soil.
This is also the first time that India have taken the lead in a Test series in Australia.
The play on the fifth and final day was delayed due to rain.
Most of the opening session was lost to the inclement weather, and the play resumed in right earnest only after lunch.
Resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 258/8, the Australian batsmen could battle for only 27 deliveries before being dismissed for 261 runs.
Pat Cummins, who had delayed Australian defeat with a heroic half-century on the fourth day, was the first to return to the pavilion on the fifth day.
The tail-ender had added only two runs to his overnight score when he edged a delivery from Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah to Cheteshwar Pujara at first slip.
Cummins scored 63 off 114 balls, hitting five boundaries and a six over the course of his gritty innings.
Ishant Sharma then dismissed Nathan Lyon with a short pitched delivery to complete the victory.
Lyon had tried to go for the pull, only to see the top edge offer a simple catch to wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.
Brief scores:
Australia: 151 & 261 (Pat Cummins 63, Shaun Marsh 44, Usman Khawaja 33; Ravindra Jadeja 3/82, Jasprit Bumrah 3/53) vs India: 443/7(d) & 106/8(d) (Mayank Agarwal 42, Rishabh Pant 33; Pat Cummins 6/27)
"Jadeja's left shoulder has continued to improve and he is now available for the 3rd Test match of the series in Melbourne," the BCCI said in a statement.
Jadeja had complained of left shoulder discomfort after prolonged bowling spells during the 2018, West Indies ODI series. He underwent a guided injection in Mumbai for this on November 2.
That enabled the left-arm spinner to represent Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy match from November 12-15. He was declared fit by the BCCI and selected for the Test series against Australia.
After Jadeja flew to Australia, he complained of a recurrence of his symptoms on November 30 during the match against the CA XI in Sydney.
He was given another injection into a slightly different site on that day. This injection along with his rehabilitation programme improved his condition.
"In the lead up to the Perth Test match on 14th December, the management and the all-rounder were of the opinion that the intensity of his bowling in the nets could have been higher, to match the standards required for such an intensely fought series. For this reason, he was not considered for selection for the 2nd Test match," the BCCI statement added.
Skipper Virat Kohli struck his 23rd Test ton, his fourth slowest century coming off 197 balls, to guide India to the massive score.
Kohli received great support from No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara (72), who forged a 113-run third wicket partnership before all-rounder Hardik Pandya struck a run-a-ball 52 to take the lead past the 500-run mark.
Brief Scores: India: 329 all out and 352/7 (Virat Kohli 103, Cheteshwar Pujara 72, Hardik Pandya 52; Adil Rashid 3/101) against England: first innings: 161 all out.
Cheteshwar Pujara (33) and Skipper Virat Kohli (8) were at the crease when umpires dislodged the bails for the day.
For England, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes chipped in one wicket each in the last session.
The day started with England bowlers wrapping up India's first innings for 329 just before the lunch.
Ajinkya Rahane (81) and skipper Virat Kohli (97) shone with the bat and helped India post a challenging score.
Resuming the second day at 307 for six, India's lower-order batsmen -- Ravichandran Ashwin (14) Ishant Sharma (1 not out), Mohammed Shami(3) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) -- failed to make any substantial contribution to the score.
Overnight batsmen Rishabh Pant only managed to add just two runs to his score before going back to the pavilion.
Coming into bat, England started their innings steadly. The hosts were 46/0, trailing by 283 runs at lunch. England openers Alastair Cook Aand Keaton Jennings applied themselves handsomely and made sure they went for lunch without losing any wicket.
Cook faced 30 balls and slammed three boundaries while Jennings played 25 deliveries and hit the same number of boundaries.
But after lunch, England struggled as Indian bolwers bounced back in style. Hardik Pandya's 5/28 broke the back of English batting line-up as the hosts were bundled out for 161 in their first innings.
India rode on a brilliant bowling display as the entire England batsmen were wrapped after they added just 115 runs in the second session of the second day.
After a decent start, as England were 46 for no loss at lunch, the Indian bowlers came all guns blazing to hand their side a 168-run lead after India's first Inning score of 329.
Apart from Pandya, pacers Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah scalped couple of wickets each conceding 32 and 37 runs respectively while Mohammed Shami bagged one.
Jos Buttler was the top scorer for the hosts with his 39 runs while openers Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings chipped in with 29 and 20 runs respectively.
The final session saw Indian batsmen swelling their overall lead. Openers Shikhar Dhawan (44) and Lokesh Rahul (36) gave the steady start. But just when things seemed good in the middle Rahul was sent back to the pavilion. He was clean-bowled by Ben Stokes.
Soon, after adding 61 runs with Pujara, Dhawan was also dismissed by spinner Adil Rashid when scoreboard was reading 111.
But Kohli and Pujara then played sensibly and without losing their wickets and ended the day by swelling their lead.
Under pressure after losing the first two Tests, India made three changes to their playing XI by bringing in Shikhar Dhawan and Jasprit Bumrah and handing a Test debut to stumper Rishabh Pant. Murali Vijay, Kuldeep Yadav and Dinesh Karthik were dropped.
England on the other hand, brought back all-rounder Ben Stokes in place of young left-arm pacer Sam Curran.
Teams:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.
England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (Captain), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Australia were reduced to 23/2 at stumps as Ravindra Jadeja sent opener David Warner and nightwatchman Nathan Lyon back to the hut early. In the first innings, India took a 152-run lead after amassing 603/9 declared in reply to Australia's 451.
"We've got to cope with it as best we can and come up with a plan, and we've done a lot of practice in those conditions so I'm really confident they can do the job and see how they go. Be a great challenge for them," Lehmann told reporters at the end of the fourth day's play.
"You've got to prepare for all scenarios here in India, as you've seen the wickets start to wear on day four, day five, this has been a really traditional Indian wicket, a good wicket. It's quite a challenge. We were preparing in Dubai and that's what we did and now it's putting it into practice," the 47-year-old added.
Lehmann said the visitors have a plan to tackle Jadeja who bowled two excellent deliveries to get rid of Warner and Lyon.
"(It was) tough to lose those two wickets tonight, they were some good balls from them. It will be a good challenge for the group to put it into practice tomorrow and we've got to do that and to deliver on the big stage."
"Once the ball gets a little bit softer, it plays pretty well. So there's no real demons in the track. It's a case of obviously applying ourselves much like Pujara and Saha did today," he said.
"We will have to come up with a plan to combat Jadeja but we've worked on that and you'll probably see it tomorrow, I would think."
Lehmann said the challenge for his team is to get two good partnerships and get a hold of the game.
"They've got to believe in what they're doing as a group and a couple of good balls like tonight that can happen in a game of cricket. For us, it's a great challenge. The challenge for our group is to put on a couple of partnerships and really get ahead of the game."
"When you bowl 210 overs, I don't think that's happened too often and India do that well. They bat long periods of time here in India," the former top order batsman opined.
"If anything, it heightens our first innings where we needed to bat a little bit longer. But the bowlers worked really hard and I thought they were fantastic. Chopped and changed as best as they could in the conditions. We'll see how they pull up and make a decision. But we'll worry about tomorrow first."
India beat Australia 2-1 to win their first Test series in Australia in 71 years and Shastri wasn't short of praise for his wards.
"I will tell you how satisfying it is for me. World Cup 1983, World Championship of Cricket 1985 this is as big, or even bigger, because it is in the truest (Test) format of the game. It's Test cricket, which is meant to be the toughest," Shastri said on Monday.
While formats can't be compared but India's 1983 World Cup triumph came against an all-conquering West Indies side that featured Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd along with four fearsome fast bowlers in Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Joel Garner.
Not someone who is shies away from expressing his thoughts, Shastri said that he believes in living in the present as he expectedly lauded skipper Virat Kohli.
"Past is history, future is a mystery. We have won today after 71 years and I'd like to live in the present. And salute my captain for being the captain of the team that beat Australia for the first time in Australia in a series," he added.
Glowing in his praise, Shastri repeated what he has often said about the skipper, his passion and ability to lead from the front.
"I don't think anyone plays Test cricket with more passion than he does. At least I don't see any other international captain coming close to him on the field when it comes to showing that passion needed to play the game," the former all-rounder said.
"He is very expressive, which is different to others. Other captains could have different personalities but Virat is someone who is in your face and it rubs off on all the youngsters who are watching the game in India," he tried explain the skipper's persona.
The best part about Kohli, according to the coach, is his ability to walk the talk by setting examples.
"His entire team that watches him, they want to emulate him. And to believe that they can be someone like him who can go out there and strive for excellence. So when an individual puts his neck on the line as captain then the others follow.
"And you have seen that transition happening over the last two-three years where guys in the team have become more and more confident, about their own ability and the ability of the team as well and it's made all the difference," he added.
For Shastri, the series win in Australia is a culmination of all the hard work put in during the year starting from the away series against South Africa in January, last year.
"This tour didn't start in Australia. This tour started 12 months ago in South Africa, where we said there's a certain brand of cricket that we are going to play, we will experiment with combinations, find out what suits the team the best and take it forward from there.
"We learnt a lot in South Africa and we learnt a lot in England. We made mistakes, which we didn't make in this series. We learnt from those mistakes and fired it home properly. So the most satisfying part of this was it was a team that was working over those last 12 months," said Shastri.
The hallmark of a good team is being able to seize the vital moments and the current team has slowly started doing that.
"What we learnt is to seize the important moments. Going back to the first Test when we were 40/4, or 70/4 or 80/5, from thereon to reach 250, you knew deep down that could have a huge impact on the series.
"Similarly, taking wickets in Melbourne with Jasprit Bumrah going through that spell when he was hot, and you know taking six wickets on the trot. Those are the kind of sessions that could be crucial," he said.
The Indian team especially, Kohli and Shastri have always maintained that 1-4 scoreline in England wasn't an indicator of how closely the series was fought.
"In England, we lost it because the lower order often got runs against us. When we could have bowled out England much more cheaply, we didn't do it. Here at least, we managed to do that. So that can be a big difference.
"And in fact, our lower order when least expected got runs, so that made the difference with the opposition. If anyone tells me that this Australian attack is not quite there, put your pads on and go and play them, you will find out," the coach said with his customary swagger.
Ravichandran Ashwin's persistent injuries in foreign conditions has been a thing of worry but Shastri is happy that Kuldeep Yadav with his five-wicket haul could soon be in line for a permanent place in the Test line-up irrespective of conditions.
"Why abroad? Test cricket. Period. If Kuldeep can deliver like that, if he can improve, there could be a permanent place for him, for all you know. That's what we have done with this team. You mentioned Bumrah. You see Hanuma Vihari. You see Rishabh Pant. You see Mayank Agarwal. These are guys who have got opportunities this year.
"There is Prithvi Shaw, who got an opportunity; unfortunately he is injured, but as many as six players have broken into the ranks. You don't see that many coming through in a year in an established team that is ranked number one. We have given the opportunities, and it is up to the guys to grab it," the proud coach stated.
Pat Cummins scored a heroic half-century as Australia finished at 258 for eight at stumps on day four after being reduced to 176 for seven after tea.
At end of play, he had scored an unbeaten 61 runs, facing 103 balls and hitting five fours as well as a six, while Nathan Lyon was batting on 6, as they put on 43 runs for the ninth wicket.
Australia need another 141 runs for an improbable win, while India are two wickets away from a 2-1 series lead.
Post tea, Travis Head (34) and Tim Paine (26) took their sixth-wicket partnership to 22 runs. The duo cut down on risky scoring shots and played for time.
But they couldn't last long, as Head played on off Ishant Sharma (1-37) in the 51st over. Paine though continued his resistance and put on 19 runs with Mitchell Starc (18), seeing through 11 overs in this partnership.
Ravindra Jadeja (3-82) got the breakthrough with Paine caught behind and it seemed like Australia's last fight had gone out. But Cummins arrived at the crease to defy India, even as Starc was bowled off a rash swing against Mohammed Shami (2-71).
India tried everything possible to get the final two wickets, with skipper Virat Kohli even convincing the umpires to go for the extra half-hour/eight overs seeing the possibility of a result.
Cummins though stood defiant as he brought up his second Test half-century off 86 balls, capping a fine day of Test cricket after taking career-best figures of 6-27 in the morning session.
Earlier, at tea, Australia were reduced to 138 for five. Post lunch, Usman Khawaja (33) and Shaun Marsh (44) came out playing attacking shots and the scoring rate peaked at its highest for the duration of this Test.
The duo added 30 runs for the third wicket as India went on the backfoot a bit, and were waiting for breakthrough to come along.
It did as Shami trapped Khawaja lbw in the 21st over, but the batsman went for DRS review. It stayed in India's favour as he was too far back in his crease and was out plumb.
Shaun Marsh though continued to play his aggressive strokes and added 51 runs with brother Mitchell Marsh (10), as Australia crossed 100 in the 37th over.
Looking good for a tall score, Shaun Marsh was unlucky to be given out lbw against Jasprit Bumrah (2-53) in the 33rd over. He went for DRS review as well and the ball was shown clipping the stumps only marginally, thus out on umpire's call.
Mitchell Marsh looked to attack Jadeja but it didn't work as Australia lost a third wicket in this session. He mishit the ball straight to Kohli at extra cover in a bid to clear the ropes.
Australia were placed at 44 for two at lunch after India declared at 106 for eight in their second innings with Pat Cummins taking career-best figures of 6-27.
Needing to bat five and a half sessions to save the match, Australia didn't get off to the best start as Aaron Finch (3) edged Bumrah to second slip in the second over.
Mayank Agarwal couldn't latch on to a tough chance at short leg off Khawaja three balls later otherwise it would have been an even poorer start.
The batsman then added 27 runs for the second wicket with Marcus Harris (13). The duo checked their shot selection, even as India wasted a review against Khawaja in Jadeja's first over.
The spinner struck in the 10th over though as a bat-pad chance got stuck under Agarwal's arm at short leg and Harris had to walk back, causing further trouble for Australia.
In the morning, India had batted 52 minutes and extended their second innings from overnight 54 for five even as threat of rain loomed large.
Play started on time though and India were batting with a plan to reach the 400-lead mark as quickly as possible.
Mayank (42) opened up with a couple sixes off Nathan Lyon (0-40) and made intentions clear, but was bowled off Cummins before he could get a second half-century in his maiden Test.
Rishabh Pant (33) and Ravindra Jadeja (5) threw their bats around to add 17 runs. They didn't waste time in farming strike, with Cummins missing out on his five-wicket haul when Tim Paine dropped Pant early in the session.
He returned to pick up his sixth wicket when Jadeja gloved a catch to gully, beating his previous best of 6-79 against South Africa back in 2011.
India declared with Pant's dismissal in the 38th over.
The visitors had scored 443 for seven declared in the first innings thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara's 17th Test hundred. Jasprit Bumran then picked career-best figures of 6-33 as Australia were bowled out for 151 runs in reply on day three, conceding a 292-run lead.
The four-match series is level at 1-1 after India won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs and Australia claimed the second in Perth by 146 runs.
Called a "genius" on air by Australia's former captain Michael Clarke, Bumrah's career-best figures of 6/33 in 15.5 overs also made him the first bowler from the subcontinent to take a five-for or more in South Africa, England and Australia in the same year.
At the end of day three, India, after bowling out Australia for 151 in response to their first innings total of 443/7 declared, took a 346-run lead. The visitors were struggling at 54/5 in 27 overs in their second essay but had the upper-hand.
Debutant Mayank Agarwal (28 batting), who scored an impressive 76 in the first innings, and Rishabh Pant (6) were at the crease after 15 wickets fell in all on an exciting day.
In their second innings, India were jolted by Pat Cummins (4-10), who took four wickets for two runs in the space of 19 balls, including Virat Kohli (0) and Ajinkya Rahane (0) caught off successive balls.
Rohit Sharma (5) prevented his hat-trick, but fell before end of play.
This was after Bumrah's outstanding effort handed India a 292-run lead.
Bumrah returned second-best figures for an Indian bowler in Australia after Kapil Dev's 8-106 at Adelaide in 1985. But he surpassed B Chandresekhar's twin hauls of 6-52 in each innings at this ground in 1977.
Post tea, Australia's innings lasted for only four overs as Bumrah quickly cleaned up the worrisome tail. First he got rid of Tim Paine (22) caught behind, and then trapped Nathan Lyon (0) lbw.
Three balls later, he bowled Josh Hazlewood (0) as India took a hefty lead. Kohli though decided not to enforce the follow-on and the Indian mini-collapse followed thereafter.
Cummins bounced out Hanuma Vihari (13) for the second time in this Test, while Cheteshwar Pujara (0) was caught at short square leg for a duck following his hundred in the first innings.
India were reduced to 32-4 with a double break against Kohli and Rahane. Rohit Sharma was caught at slip off Josh Hazlewood (1-13) as India finished five-down but still in control of the game.
Earlier, Australia sunk to 145-7 at tea. Post lunch, it took only four overs for Bumrah to strike again as he bowled Travis Head (20), playing on in the 37th over.
Australia were in dire straits at 92-5 and things didn't improve when Ravindra Jadeja (2-45) struck for a second time against Mitchell Marsh (9). The batsman tried an exaggerated onside flick, but ended up edging to slip as the ball exploded off the pitch.
The hosts managed to cross 100 in the 41st over, but were struggling at 102-6. The next pair then batted with more patience and cut down on attacking strokes for the next hour.
In doing so, Paine and Pat Cummins (17) added 36 runs for the seventh wicket and added some respectability to the total amid the ruins. To India's credit, they never relented the bowling pressure and executed their plans to near perfection.
It could have been different, but Cummins was dropped on 2 by keeper Rishabh Pant off Hanuma Vihari in the 50th over.
Just when it appeared that Australia might avoid another dismissal, Mohammed Shami (1-27) got into the attack and bowled him to give India the advantage again.
The visitors struck four blows in the morning session as Australia were reduced to 89-4 at lunch.
Starting from overnight 8-0, Australia were under the pump early on as Ishant Sharma (1-41) and Bumrah gave them no room for manoeuvring.
It didn't help that the Australian openers came out playing their shots and this attacking instinct went in India's favour.
Ishant struck in the fifth over of the morning as Mayank Agarwal scooped up a sharp catch at short mid-wicket to send back Aaron Finch (8). The fielder was stationed there for any aerial shot and the plan worked to get an early breakthrough.
Four overs later, Marcus Harris (22) went for an uncontrolled pull and found the fine leg fielder as Bumrah celebrated his first wicket of the day.
India used the scoreboard pressure to good effect as Jadeja came on to bowl with close-in fielders all around the bat. Usman Khawaja (21) fell to this ploy, caught at short leg, as Australia slipped further to 53-3 in the 20th over.
Shaun Marsh (19) and Head then added 36 runs for the fourth wicket and brought some semblance of stability to the Australian innings. They used good footwork against Jadeja to smother the possibility of turn from the rough.
But Bumrah came up with an inspirational yorker at the stroke of lunch, and the slow dipping delivery caught Shaun Marsh plumb in front of the wicket, as Australia's top-order was completely blown away on this third morning.
The four-match series is level at 1-1, after India won the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs and Australia won the second Test in Perth by 146 runs.
Needing only a wicket on the final morning, India completed the formalities in only 2.5 overs as England were all out for 317, well short of the mammoth victory target of 521 runs.
India now trail England 1-2 but more importantly got some breathing space after a heart-breaking defeat in Edgbaston, followed by the debacle at the Lord's.
The final wicket was taken by Ravichandran Ashwin, who dismissed James Amderson (11), caught by Ajinkya Rahane.
The heartening aspect was the kind of domination shown by the Indian team in what can easily be termed as a complete performance under Virat Kohli's captaincy outside the sub-continent.
While openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan were solid if not spectacular, the new ball bowlers Ishant Sharma (2/32 and 2/70) and Mohammed Shami (1/56 and 1/78) were relentless in their attack.
Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (81 in first innings) and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara (72 in second innings) also put their hands up when it mattered the most.
Hardik Pandya (five-for and half-century) produced an all-round performance with wickets and runs to justify his place and make a statement to the sceptics.
The slip catching improved by leaps and bounds with Rahul taking seven catches.
Rishabh Pant showed why he is considered a minefield of talent during his eventful stay at the crease.
Pant might still be a work in progress as far as glove-work is concerned but five catches in the first innings showed that it won't be easy for the first choice Test keeper Wriddhiman Saha to just walk back into the team once he gets fit.
Last but not the least was skipper himself. Easily the best batsmen across both sides, Kohli has now taken his tally of runs to 440 after knocks of 97 and 103 in the third Test.
Call it a coincidence, Kohli has accumulated exactly 200 runs in the first and third Test matches.
With two hundreds and two half-centuries, Kohli has made sure that there are no debates on who is the best batsmen in world cricket currently. He has now scored hundreds in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and England.
The Indian captain's ability to cut down on his scoring shots, showing patience when Jimmy Anderson was on fire was hallmark of his greatness.
Such has been his domination that the second-highest scorer across both the teams is Jonny Bairstow (206 runs) while Jos Buttler, after his maiden Test hundred, is placed third with 170 runs.
From India, Pandya with 160 runs, is the second best but it has a lot do with the batting debacles in the first two Test matches.