India avoided the follow-on, scoring 252 for nine when bad light forced early stumps on day 4 of the third Test against Australia here on Tuesday.
Ravindra Jadeja (77) and KL Rahul (84) led India’s fightback, but once they were dismissed, Jasprit Bumrah (10) and Akash Deep (27) helped push the total forward, with a heroic last wicket stand of 39 off 54 balls.
India, however, still trail by 193 runs.
For Australia, skipper Pat Cummins was the most successful bowler, taking four wickets for 80 runs, while Mitchell Starc claimed three for 83. Nathan Lyon (1/54) also picked up a wicket on a day when Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the match due to injury.
Jadeja kept India’s hopes alive with a sturdy innings, sharing a 53-run stand with Nitish Kumar Reddy (16), who was dismissed by Cummins in the post-lunch session, which was curtailed by a rain interruption lasting just over an hour.
Earlier, opener KL Rahul played a crucial role in India’s fightback, contributing a solid 84 as he and Jadeja added 67 runs.