Marnus Labuschagne (70) survived a close elbow shout, got almost played on once and survived a caught-and-out-bowled chance off Mohammed Siraj. If that wasn't all, Yashasvi Jaiswal dropped Labuschagne at the slip cordon when he nicked one off Akash Deep on 46.

All on Day IV of this fourth Test in Melbourne.

When positioned at silly point, Jaiswal also dropped Australia captain Pat Cummins (41) with whom, Labuschagne stitched a vital 57-run stand for the fifth wicket at a time when even a 250-run lead looked quite far for the Australians.

One fielder alone dropping three catches in an innings, like Jaiswal did on Sunday, doesn't augur well for the team concerned. Together with the missed catches, Jasprit Bumrah made one rare mistake of bowling a no-ball in the day's final over, which allowed Nathan Lyon (41 batting) seven more runs as Australia stretched their second innings to 228/9 at stumps on the penultimate day of the game.

The Australians managed to stretch their overall lead to a formidable 333, thanks to their No.10 Lyon and No.11 Scott Boland forging an unbroken 55, batting together for 17.5 overs. That would not have been the case, though, if the Indians hadn't dropped so many catches.

The Melbourne skies could be cloudy on Monday, and insufficient light may well affect play. Besides, there has been a concern or two over Mitchell Starc's ribs, although the left-arm pacer has denied having any discomfort.

But all these aside, the task certainly became tougher for India's batting group as chasing a 300-plus total in the fourth innings at the MCG has never been easy. Of course, India will be drawing inspiration from that historic 2021 Brisbane Test when they successfully chased down a stiff 328-run target, while it will also be playing on the minds of the Australians.

Agreed, the demons in this MCG surface weren't noticed even during Sunday's play, but India's top-order must ensure a safe start first and foremost to negate the risk of a defeat.