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Who would have imagined that Australia would still be well and truly in this series going into the last test. Really speaks volumes for their preparation in Dubai for a few weeks before the tour to accustom the players to slow and low wickets. India would be now quite worried about losing the series so it will be interesting to see what sort of wicket they produce at Dharmasala. Historically in domestic cricket it has been quite a slow pitch but this will be the first test there so it remains to be seen how it plays over the 5 days.

It would be a great start for Steve Smith to win the toss because runs on the board would be a critical insurance against the pitch crumbling on days 4 and 5 (need to go bigger than 450 though as we saw at Rangi). The other factor in batting first of course is it would give the Aussie bowlers another day and a half to recover (all going well of course)

As for selection, I really think the Australians need to go with the same team because the reserves (Stoinis apart) have not played any competitive cricket for a month or more. The only way that would change is if the wicket somehow had a bit of pace and they wanted to bring in a 3rd seamer.

All the batsman apart from Dave Warner have made significant contributions at various stages of the series, so I am hoping that he can step up to the plate in this last test and play a knock of substance.

Finally if you are not subscribed to Fox sports, get into a licenced venue that is showing the cricket at some stage. It would be worth it just to have a look at the ground, which is undoubtably the most scenic test venue in the world with the Himalayas towering over the ground. Cape Town would be its only rival I would think.

Interesting reading just how many balls Ashwin has bowled this Summer starting against NZ last year and how many overs him and Jadeja have bowled in that time.
Hopefully they are both starting to feel the effect although with Jadeja it hasnt really shown.

I hope that I am wrong but I sense a giant Kohli sting coming up. All the newspapers are talking about how much pressure he is under, even that he is in some doubt because of his shoulder injury ,the Aussies are talking up their chances because India are scared of losing.

I don't think there is any way on earth that Kohli will miss this game even if he is still injured. Ignoring his irritating mannerisms and the fact that he constantly seems to be angry, he is still one of most talented batsman India has ever produced and I think he has been given ample motivation to play a series winning innings here. Beware the wounded batsman.

Be interested to see if Kohli does play....tho for the Indians to fly in a replacement last minute, the signs look pretty good that Kohli is struggling to get up.

Can't believe the Indians would prepare a fast & bouncy strip....bit of reverse psychology perhaps....though for Australia to reap any benefit do they rest their bowlers a day or two and bat first....or bowl first when the conditions are at their best fast bowling wise?.....losing the toss may not be a bad thing if India bat first....just got to make sure the Aust bowlers maximise the conditions and don't go bowling too short.....

does Bird play or Stoinis?....who misses out?...sounds like Lyon spinning finger is pretty knackered....but the bounce surely would help Lyon more than SOK....but SOK is a better bat and will the pitch be conducive to spin.....sounds like Ashwin is knackered as well with all the bowling he has done the past 6 months....should be an interesting next few days....all to play for....

Apparently Virat Kholi out and Rahane to captain, big help for Australia Kholi isn't out there to rally the Indians although the negative for the Aussies is his replacement might make some runs .

India take the plunge and play a debut leggie....heading towards a debut 5 for....good risk by the Indians....with India going in with 5 bowlers, Aust tail needs to push this score past 300 - 350...the Steve Smith just continues on...surely heading up there to be one of Aust all time best batsmen....

A great opportunity lost today. 1-130 at lunch with Warner and Smith in total control. To get bowled out for 300 after that is very disappointing. Credit to young Yadav, he bamboozled our middle order. Wade played well but like Warner gave it away when 50. Smith was outstanding like he has been all season. I don't think there are any problems with Kohli coming out with drinks unless he starts engaging with the Australians. Rahane is the captain in this game so Kohli is just another player.
I sense 300 is about 100 short of a par score on this pitch. The Australians need to strike early tomorrow to get back in the game, otherwise guys like Pujara could bat them out of the game if they are not removed early.

Big wicket there....going for a 3rd boundary.....2 senior batsman gone in first 10 overs....spinners yet to come on...lets see what the others are made of......big ask now.....100 needed from one of the next 4 batsmen...a career defining one perhaps.....200 lead surely minimum....big ask though......hopefully we dont roll over and waste a fantastic opportunity for creating a bit of history by winning a series in India.......

Well that escalated quickly as it so often does over there in the sub continent.

Over to you bowlers now that the batsmen have failed dismally in just a session and a half only 10 wickets needed now in 2 days....oh and 106 runs for the Currys to win the series!

Such a pity, the Aussies have been so competitive and have fought every inch of the way until the wheels fell off today. They needed a minimum of 200 lead to give them some hope but looking at how comfortable the Indian openers seemed to be tonight, even that may not have been enough. You have to give credit to the Indian bowlers, they are very hard to play in their home conditions.

I have noticed also how much better a captain Rahane is than Kohli, much less outwardly aggressive but very good tactically. Bowling changes and field placements were well thought out and generally the team responded well to him.

From the Australian point of view,surely the time has come for Sean Marsh to be permanently discarded. Yes he played a few useful innings and he was crucial in the draw in the 3rd test, but his output was nothing like what they would have been expecting from a batsman who apparently was a sub continent specialist. Now he has picked up another injury which is the other problem. One could have argued that Usman Khwajha may have had a similar or better impact.

The other major disappointment from a batting point of view was Warner who got several starts and failed to convert any of them into a big score. Not good enough for a senior player.

Maxwell played well when included and showed that he had matured. He was really stiff to cop that LBW decision today when he was playing well.

Handscomb and Renshaw did very well given it was their first tour and they will be better for the experience.

Smith of course played brilliantly and enhanced his standing as the worlds best batsman.

Wade I am still not convinced about with either his batting or keeping. He played a very strange innings today as he basically blocked until Hazlewood came in which played into India's hands I felt. When he started playing his natural game the boundaries came but it was too late by then. If he had opened up when Cummins was there, we could have got a 150 lead which would at least given the bowlers something to have a crack at.

I thought all the bowlers toiled away manfully and generally kept India's batsmen to reasonable scores apart from the Pujara/Saha partnership which they couldn't break. Lyon and O'Keeffe certainly troubled the opposition batsmen at times and they never let the run rate get away. Starc's injury was unfortunate but Cummins proved an able replacement, Hazlewood was his usual steady self.

One thing I found hard to understand was the very low useage of the all rounder's or part time bowlers to provide a bit of variety, Marsh hardly got a bowl in the first two tests nor Maxwell in the last 2

So there you have it, I have written the post mortem, but am still dreaming of a Lyon bag of 7 tomorrow with India sensationally skittled for 95. But then I woke up