Australia have reached 38-1 at tea on the fourth day to lead India by 135 runs as they look to force a result in the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Before Australia were forced to bat through a tricky spell prior to the tea break, India had pushed on to a total of 475 to trail the hosts by 97 runs.
The deficit could have been much larger, but Ravichandran Ashwin displayed his ability as a lower order batsman by hitting six boundaries on his way to 50.
Ashwin was well supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (30), who was the first batsman to lose his wicket in the afternoon session when he edged Nathan Lyon to Shane Watson at first slip.
Mitchell Starc picked up his third wicket of the innings when Ashwin could only deliver an edge into the safe hands of Brad Haddin.
Mohammed Shami was 16 not out thanks to two fours and a six, but he was prevented from adding more runs when Umesh Yadav (4) edged Ryan Harris to Haddin to become the final man out.
Australia's attempts to put the pressure on the tourists with a fast start to their second innings began with an early disappointment as Ashwin, opening the bowling alongside Kumar, caught David Warner's (4) edge to give Murali Vijay an easy catch at slip.
However, Chris Rogers (21*) and Shane Watson (13*) both looked comfortable after their teammate's departure, and the hosts appear set to take an attacking approach in the final session of the fourth day.
