Walking out at 17/2, Kohli edged a delivery from Scott Boland towards Steve Smith at second slip, with Smith reaching low to his right. With the red Kookaburra wedged between his thumb and index finger, Smith went on to scoop the ball in the direction of Marnus Labuschagne - who caught the ball - before Kohli stood his ground.

Kohli had a huge left-off on his first ball and finally departed for 17, following KL Rahul (4), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) and Shubman Gill (20) who were out before lunch.

Regular skipper and opener Rohit was "rested" for Sydney Test, India said, after failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings during the series, which Australia lead 2-1.

A draw in Sydney would be enough for Australia to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy contested between the nations, which India, winners of the last four series, have long held.

At lunch, the tourists were 75 for four with skipper Shan Masood on 32 and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan 12. Pat Cummins had taken 2-16 from five overs.