Photographs: BCCI
Australia must have breathed a sigh of relief as a late rally from their lower order took them past 400 after they were reeling at 273 for seven at stumps on day two.
Steven Smith (92) and Mitchell Starc (99) both missed their maiden centuries in Test cricket but had played a big role in taking their team to safety.
If the Australian bowlers had felt confident walking into the ground for the Indian innings all their hopes were dashed by a superb display of attacking batting from debutant Shikhar Dhawan.
The left-hander hit his sixth ball in Test cricket for a superb boundary through the covers as the bowler Peter Siddle and the rest of the Australian team could only sit and marvel the beauty of the shot.India in commanding position
Photographs: BCCI
Three balls later, Siddle tried a bouncer but Dhawan was equal to the task and pulled it with authority behind square on the leg side for another four.
That set the tone for the rest of the day as the Australian bowlers were dismissed to all parts of the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali.
He raced to 53 from 50 balls with the help of 12 fours and took another 35 deliveries to bring up his century on debut while taking his boundary tall to 21.
At stumps, he had blasted his way to 185 from 168 balls, having smashed 33 fours and two sixes.
India were in complete control through the last two sessions. They made 153 runs in 28 overs in the post lunch session and then smashed 127 runs from 29 overs in the post tea session.
Dhawan's attacking approach has put India in charge and put them in a position where another couple of good sessions on day four and they could well push for an unlikely victory despite the opening day of the match being washed out.
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