India fought back boldly, but Australia built a 239-run lead at tea on day four of the Boxing Day Test against India.
The hosts were 4-174 at the end of Monday’s second session, which was delayed due to rain at the MCG.
India will relinquish the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Melbourne if they are unable to cap an incredible turnaround in the third Test with victory.
Chris Rogers was bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin on 69 in the third last over before tea, the veteran opener passing 50 for the fourth consecutive time.
The tourists, who also picked up the scalps of Shane Watson and Steve Smith in the second session, almost had Rogers out edging on 33 and 56.
Second slip Shikhar Dhawan gave Rogers a reprieve in the first over after lunch, diving in front of first slip Ashwin but only getting a thumb to the ball.
India captain MS Dhoni later thought he had Rogers out, claiming a smart leg-side catch when the hosts were 3-139.
But umpire Richard Kettleborough called for the third umpire, replays suggesting the ball scraped the turf before getting scooped up in Dhoni’s camouflage gloves.
“When he’s diving and rolling and it’s that close – he’s probably not sure,” Mark Taylor said, while calling the game for the Nine Network.
“I don’t believe MS Dhoni thought that bounced.”
The incident did not result in any sort of obvious altercation, but it won’t help heated relations between the two sides.
A total of four misconduct fines were dished out in the opening two Tests, while Mitchell Johnson and Virat Kohli had a near-constant slanging match on day three in Melbourne.
David Warner, who belted a quick-fire 40 in the morning session, started swapping barbs with Cheteshwar Pujara in the second over of Australia’s second dig.
When Ishant Sharma pointed at the belligerent opener from mid-on and started quarrelling, stump microphones picked up Warner using the word “Bollywood” as a retort.
Nursing a sore left thumb and a badly bruised right forearm, even Warner had doubts whether he’d bat on Monday.
But Warner made a statement before his first shot – facing the opening ball for only the second time in his opening partnership with Rogers.
Warner cut that delivery – unthreatening and wide from Umesh Yadav – to the rope.
At the end of the eighth over, Warner was 37 off 23 balls and Dhoni threw the ball to offspinner Ashwin.
Ashwin bowled with good control – something the tourists’ pacemen failed to do yet again – and captured the scalp of Warner in the 15th over.
Smith never looked like getting out in the first innings when his purple patch continued with an outstanding 192.
It was a similar story in Australia’s second dig, until the 25-year-old clipped an unthreatening ball from Yadav to Ajinkya Rahane at leg slip.
