MELBOURNE: No one is more committed to Indian cricket than Mahendra Singh Dhoni and batting at number five is the ideal spot for him, said Virat Kohli in stout defence of the former captain.

Dhoni faced criticism for slow batting in the ODI series-opener in Sydney before redeeming his pride and reputation with match-winning contributions in the Adelaide and Melbourne ODIs.

READ ALSO: I'm ready to bat at any position, says MS Dhoni

Acknowledging Dhoni's contribution in the historic series-triumph in Australia, Kohli defended the former captain saying he should be allowed breathing space.

READ ALSO: Dhoni powers India to first-ever bilateral ODI series win in Australia

"I think firstly as a team we are very happy for Dhoni that he is amongst the runs, because it is very important to get runs under your belt to get that rhythm and confidence back. Especially when you have not been playing so much international cricket," said the India captain at the post-match press conference.

"Many things happen outside. People say a lot of things but as an individual we know that there is no one more committed to Indian cricket than Dhoni and people should let him have his space because he has contributed so much for the nation.

"They should let him figure out things on his own and what he needs to do. He is one of the most intelligent cricketers and he is not someone who is not aware about what needs to be done. As a team we are totally in sync with what he is doing and we are all very happy for him," said Kohli.

The skipper also reckons that the just-concluded Australia series has proved that number five is the most logical spot for Dhoni.

"Dhoni batted at number four in 2016 for a while. But after that he has been pretty happy playing at five and six for the team. We felt that number five was the ideal position for him. And if you saw him bat at Adelaide as well he was pretty comfortable in that position because that allows him to do a bit of both - get some game time as well as finish games off, attacking as and when required," Kohli said.

Dhoni played a crucial role in India winning the decisive third ODI with his unbeaten 87-run knock on Friday and at Adelaide too his unbeaten half-century had scripted India's win.

"He was more himself from that game (Adelaide) on, and he built onto this knock today. We are pretty happy with the batting combination that we had in Adelaide. When someone like Hardik Pandya is not there you have to balance somehow. So a lot of things vary in that regard. But we as a team, and myself as captain, we feel that Dhoni at five is the most logical. It is the ideal place for him and the team as well," Kohli said.

NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli and his men made history as India registered their maiden Test series victory on Australian soil after the fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground was drawn due to rain on Day 5 on Monday.

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Cheteshwar Pujara was declared the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series.

Rain prevented any play on Day 5 with Australia needing to bat out the last day to salvage a draw.

India won the series 2-1 with victories in the first Test in Adelaide by 31 runs and in the third Test in Melbourne by 137 runs to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Australia had won the second Test in Perth by 146 runs.

No Indian team had managed to win a Test series since they began touring Australia in 1947-48.

The hosts were 6/0 at stumps on a weather-affected Day 4 after being forced to follow-on by India.

Australia were dismissed in their first innings for 300 in reply to India's 622/7.

India had taken a stranglehold after making Australia to follow-on at home for the first time in 30 years on Day 4.

Play started almost four hours late due to rain, with the home team resuming on 236/6 after lunch.

But needing a win to level the four-match series, Australia crumbled to 300 all out, compounding the misery after some soft dismissals by the top order.

Kohli sent them straight back into bat -- the first time Australia have been asked to follow on at home since Mike Gatting's England did the same in 1988, also in Sydney.

Marcus Harris, not out two, and Usman Khawaja, unbeaten on four, survived four overs before tea was taken early for bad light. They didn't come back with play abandoned for the day.

India's spinners had picked up five of the six wickets on Day 3, but under overcast skies when play finally began on Day 4 Kohli took the new ball straight away and threw it to his pacers.

It immediately paid dividends with Pat Cummins, who scored a gutsy 63 in the Melbourne Test, lasting just three balls, clean bowled by Mohammed Shami without adding to his overnight 25.

The recalled Handscomb began with purpose, confidently stroking two boundaries to move to 37 before swiping at a Jasprit Bumrah delivery and dragging it onto his stumps.

That brought Nathan Lyon to the crease but he only lasted five balls, out lbw to a full toss from Kuldeep Yadav.

Hanuma Vihari dropped a sitter when Josh Hazlewood was on nought, and it proved costly with the tailender putting on 42 with Mitchell Starc for the last wicket before he fell to Yadav, who was the pick of the bowlers with 5-99 -- his second career five-wicket haul.

SYDNEY: Australia were forced to follow-on on home soil for the first time in 30 years after being dismissed for 300 as India went for the jugular in search of a maiden series triumph Down Under on the fourth day of the final Test on Sunday.

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Openers Usman Khawaja (4) and Marcus Harris (2) safely negotiated four overs until bad light and light drizzle forced an early end to an already heavily rain-disrupted day just before the re-scheduled tea break.

Australia will resume on six without loss on Monday, still without a century in the series and 316 runs adrift of India's mammoth first innings effort of 622-7 declared.

The tourists, leading 2-1 in the four-Test series, only need a draw to secure a breakthrough triumph in Australia but skipper Virat Kohli did not hesitate to send the hosts back in when they fell well short of the 423 runs needed to avoid the follow-on.

Play at the Sydney Cricket Ground had finally got underway after a rain delay of almost four hours and India needed just 80 minutes to take the last four wickets at a cost of 64 runs.

Mohammed Shami immediately took the second new ball and removed Pat Cummins's off stump with the sixth delivery of the day to dismiss his fellow paceman for 25.

Peter Handscomb, recalled for his ability to play spin, followed for 37 after adding nine runs to his overnight tally, dragging the ball onto his stumps to give quick Jasprit Bumrah his first wicket of the match.

Nathan Lyon faced just five balls before he was adjudged lbw to fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav for a duck, a decision Australia decided against reviewing despite a question mark over whether the ball would have hit the stumps.

Josh Hazlewood was dropped by Hanuma Vihari off Kuldeep's bowling when he had yet to score and he and fellow tailender Mitchell Starc (29 not out) fought a dogged rearguard to put on 42 for the final wicket.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (5-99) finally got his man to secure a second five-wicket haul in his sixth Test, though, trapping Hazlewood leg before wicket for 21, in a decision confirmed after a review.

England were the last team to force Australia to follow-on at home in the drawn 1988 Sydney Test, a result the hosts are unlikely to repeat unless the weather intervenes decisively.

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5:15 am If no further rain, play on day four will begin at 0530 IST





5:05 am Rain has stopped, ground staff peeling off the covers.



4:45 am Bit of rain now in Sydney as the SCG ground staff brings the covers on.

4:30 am Bad light delays start.



4:25 am Hello and welcome to day four of the fourth and final Test between India and Australia at Sydney.

With a bit of rain forecast on the Sunday, following a shortened third day due to bad light and rain, India would want to make the most of the active sessions the Test would see on its last two days. Play was scheduled to start half an hour early today due to early stumps on day three, but the light is not good enough to get on the park.

The visitors took control of the match on Saturday after spin twins Kuldeep Yadav (3/71) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/62) reduced the hosts to 236/6, still 386 behind India's 622/7 declared.

The not-out batsmen on the crease -- Peter Handscomb and Pat Cummins -- will thus have a task at hand once the day's play gets underway.

Day 4 Round-up

Australia's batting woes returned on the third day of the fourth Test on Saturday and they had slumped to 236/6 when bad light and rain brought an early end to their response to India's mammoth first-innings tally of 622/7 declared.

The tourists only need a draw to claim a first series win in Australia and the home side's hopes of preventing even that faded as they blew a solid start to lose five wickets after lunch.

Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Shaun Marsh and Travis Head were all dismissed after lunch and captain Tim Paine followed soon after the tea break.

Peter Handscomb, unbeaten on 28, and fast bowler Pat Cummins, who had made 25, were at the crease when the rain clouds gathered over a Sydney Cricket Ground swathed in pink for the McGrath Foundation breast cancer support charity day.

Most of the Australian batsmen made starts but only opener Harris was able to get past the half century mark -- his 79 the highest score by the home side in a series during which India have pillaged five centuries.

SYDNEY: Australia's batting woes returned on the third day of the fourth Test on Saturday and they had slumped to 236 for six when bad light and rain brought an early end to their response to India's mammoth first-innings tally of 622-7 declared.

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The tourists only need a draw to claim a first series win in Australia and the home side's hopes of preventing even that faded as they blew a solid start to lose five wickets after lunch.

Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Shaun Marsh and Travis Head were all dismissed after lunch and captain Tim Paine followed soon after the tea break.

Peter Handscomb, unbeaten on 28, and fast bowler Pat Cummins, who had made 25, were at the crease when the rainclouds gathered over a Sydney Cricket Ground swathed in pink for the McGrath Foundation breast cancer support charity day.

Most of the Australian batsmen made starts but only opener Harris was able to get past the half century mark -- his 79 the highest score by the home side in a series during which India have pillaged five centuries.

The left-hander showed plenty of intent but just when it seemed he could be heading for a maiden Test ton he calamitously played the ball onto his own stumps off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja.

India's disciplined pace attack played a leading role in the victories in Adelaide and Melbourne that gave the tourists a 2-1 series lead coming to Sydney but it was the spinners who did most of the damage on Saturday.

Jadeja (2-62) also accounted for Marsh, who must surely have exhausted his supply of Test recalls after departing for eight having left his bat hanging to gift Ajinkya Rahane the simplest of catches at first slip.

Rahane had to work considerably harder for the catch at short midwicket that dismissed Labuschagne (38), diving low to his left to grab the ball with both hands off the bowling of quick Mohammed Shami.

Kuldeep Yadav (3-71) made Travis Head his second victim of the day shortly before tea, the batsman charging down the track to take on the left-arm wrist spinner only to send the ball straight back to him for the catch.

Paine gave the 24-year-old his third wicket, a peach of a delivery that clean bowled the Australia captain through his gaping gate for five.

The surface that India's batsmen had plundered almost at will for two days was still offering little movement for the bowlers and the Australians will be cursing themselves for some soft dismissals after the solid start to the day.

The openers had put on 72 when Usman Khawaja, moved up from number three to replace the dropped Aaron Finch, miscued a slog off Kuldeep to depart for 27 in the opening session.