Cheteshwar Pujara scored another beautiful hundred, his third century of the series, which helped India score 303 for 4 with Pujara (130) and Hanuman Vihari (39) batting. At the Sydney Cricket Ground, Pujara faced 250 balls, hitting 16 fours and shared an unbeated partnership of 75 runs with Vihari. Mayank Agarwal reached his second Test half-century off 96 balls, inclusive of two sixes against Nathan Lyon (1-88).
Agarwak was out in the 34th over. Australia resorted to more conservative bowling and kept his scoring rate in check. But they had no response to Pujara's grounding knock again, albeit with a different pace. Another 44 runs were added in the second hour of play, with Pujara reaching his half-century off 134 balls, including three fours in an over from leg spinner Marnus Labuschagne (0-25) before the tea break.
India won the toss and opted to bat. R Ashwin didn't pass the fitness test and was ruled out of this match. The visitors then made two changes, with KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav coming in for Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma. Australia too made two changes with Peter Handscomb and Marnus Labuschagne replacing Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh.
