The Aussie batters did a passable impression of Rusty facing Tiny yesterday…

Alex Carey with the understatement of the century …

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan shared his thoughts on the waning powers of this Australian team, encapsulating what a lot of us are feeling.

“If I was an Australian fan, I’d be concerned that there’s just not the level of quality waiting to get into this team.

“Maybe some in the team are just a little bit too comfortable because they feel that they’re not getting pushed from those outside of it.”

The day started with Yashasvi Jaiswal reaching 100 in his first Test in Australia. Then we thought it had ended when India declared after Virat Kohli reached 100, with a mammoth lead of 533.

But there was still time for Australia to lose three wickets — debutant opener Nathan McSweeney, night watchman Pat Cummins and battling number three Marnus Labuschagne — in just 24 minutes.

It all means Australia only has seven wickets left in its desperate attempt to break Test chasing records or, perhaps even less likely, bat two full days for a draw.

Perhaps with any real hope of victory gone, the likes of Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Mitch Marsh can treat this innings as prolonged, elite batting practice.

This Test is gone. It’s all about building for the rest of the series.

With a loss seemingly inevitable, Australia’s batters (the ones with their wickets still intact) are set to embark on, optimistically, a long day of fruitless batting practice.

India needs seven wickets to win. Australia is a mere 522 runs away from the greatest victory chase of all time.

Let’s get into it.