David Warner could see Indian heads starting to drop in Tuesday’s morning session at the SCG.

And not without good reason.

A poignant century from Warner put Australia in complete control of the fourth Test, with the home side 2-348 at stumps on day one.

Warner and Chris Rogers shared their most productive opening stand, hammering home the hosts’ advantage after Steve Smith won the toss.

Australia slipped from 0-200 to 2-204 in the space of seven minutes during the second session, Warner out for 101 and Rogers falling five runs short of his first Test ton this summer.

But the damage had well and truly been done.

“Their heads were down in the field when we were 0-100, that’s to be expected,” Warner said.

“It’s frustrating when the bowlers bowl both sides of the wicket, it’s hard to captain.

“They didn’t get their line and length right, there was no swing and there was no sideways movement.”

Shane Watson (61no) and Steve Smith (82no) continued the run spree – albeit at a slower pace – against the impotent Indian attack.

Smith pushed his series tally beyond 650 runs, seeing off the 10 fruitless overs India had with the second new ball.

Watson was dropped on the penultimate ball of the day, the edge flying off first slip Ravichandran Ashwin’s hands and to the rope.

Poor fielding, an issue all summer for India, continued to dog the tourists.

The worst error came from KL Rahul, who set the tone when he put down a regulation catch at second slip when Rogers was 19 and Australia 0-46.

“We try and thrive on that when we see that,” Warner said.

Rahul, who made an underwhelming debut at the MCG, bellowed in disbelief and new captain Virat Kohli looked exasperated.

Shikhar Dhawan, who reportedly clashed with Kohli in the Gabba changerooms, was dropped among four changes to India’s XI.

If selected, Dhawan would have been at second slip in the eighth over.

Michael Clarke, calling the game for the Nine Network, was surprised Kohli wasn’t there instead.

“I wonder if he’s got a hand injury or he doesn’t have the confidence to be in there,” Clarke said.

“It’s really strange.”

Kohli had more pressing concerns – the 26-year-old tried short spells and funky fields but his pacemen never built enough pressure.

The tourists relinquished the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Melbourne, where a draw gave Australia an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series.

Pride was the only thing on the line in Sydney – and India showed little.

The hosts raced to 0-39 after five overs, Umesh Yadav’s opening spell ending after his two overs went for 18 runs.

Warner feasted on anything short and wide – and there was plenty – before falling to offspinner Ashwin, the pick of India’s bowlers.

Rogers showed exquisite timing prior to playing on to Mohammed Shami.

“A fantastic toss to win … it’s going to be challenging for us to take 10 wickets as well,” Warner said.