Shubman Gill made a brilliant century as Australia could only take three India wickets on a slow-moving day three of the fourth and final Test.
Replying to Australia's 480 all out at the Narendra Modi Stadium, India were trailing by 191 runs at stumps on Saturday after closing on 289-3.
Opening batter Gill dug in for his highest Test score of 128 in Ahmedabad, where Virat Kohli was well set on 59 at stumps and Ravindra Jadeja was still there on 16 as Rohit Sharma's side strive to win a series they lead 2-1.
Spinners Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann claimed a wicket apiece as Australia toiled in the heat on a pitch offering little encouragement for the bowlers.
An opening stand of 74 between Rohit (35) and Gill ended when the captain struck a Kuhnemann delivery to Marnus Labuschagne at short cover, but the tourists were unable to make further inroads in the morning session.
The watchful Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara found runs hard to come by after striding out after lunch at 129-1, but they looked untroubled in a partnership of 113 before Murphy trapped the number three lbw for an obdurate 42.
That breakthrough came just before tea, which India took on 188-2 after Gill had swept Murphy for four to reach three figures.
Kohli started with positive intent to get the scoreboard ticking and Gill continued to look comfortable until he was struck on the pad in front by Lyon, leaving India 245-3.
Steve Smith wasted a review for an lbw shout against Jadeja off the bowling of Murphy and Kohli brought up an 107-ball half-century by working Lyon off his hip for two as India chipped away at Australia's lead.
India will look to build an advantage on day four, knowing they have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but need a win to be guaranteed to face Australia once again in the World Test Championship final in June.
Patience pays off for Gill
Gill laid the foundations with a superbly constructed innings, biding his time as faced 235 balls and wore the Australia bowlers down.
This was his second Test hundred after his first against Bangladesh last year and should cement his spot at the top of the order.
He struck 12 fours and a six, launching Lyon over the rope in the final over on day two.
Kohli looking ominous
Former captain Kohli was rock solid in defence and aggressive at every opportunity, giving himself a great chance to register a 28th Test century.
Australia will need to see the back of the 34-year-old before too long on Sunday if they are to have a realistic chance of squaring the series at 2-2.
'It is not just Kohli contributing now' – Du Plessis relieved by RCB's IPL improvement
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis is relieved by his side's recent Indian Premier League improvement after having an over-reliance on India great Virat Kohli in the early stages of the competition.
A comfortable 35-run away win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday has lifted spirits for RCB after they had fallen just one run short of reaching a big Kolkata Knight Riders total in their previous outing.
RCB remain bottom of the standings going into back-to-back matches against the Gujarat Titans, but they approach that double-header with new-found confidence after snapping a miserable six-match losing streak.
"In the last two games we have shown great signs of fight," Du Plessis said.
"The [first] SRH game we got to 260 [pursuing a big target], then the KKR game as well, just one run [short]. It was almost a record chase.
"We have been close for a while, but you need to win matches to get confidence back in the group.
"It is a massive relief. No matter where we are, when you are not winning it does affect you, it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence.
"I will sleep a bit easier. For the first half of the tournament only it was only Virat contributing. It is important as a batting line-up to contribute together because we have seen the scores are so big, it's never going to be just one guy scoring the runs."
Kohli still impressed against SRH, with his 51 – along with a rapid 50 off 20 balls from Rajat Patidar – helping RCB to score 206-7 after opting to bat first.
There was also a strong outing from Australia all-rounder Cameron Green, who scored 37 not out before taking 2-12 from two overs with the ball and grabbing a huge catch to dismiss SRH dangerman Heinrich Klaasen for just seven.
Du Plessis added: "The last week and a half we have been working hard to make sure we get better at our own game.
"You can see the last game; there is some confidence in our batting. We have got more guys scoring runs now. Rajat playing two really good innings back-to-back, Greeny getting runs. It is massive for him just to get that load off his shoulders.
"You can't speak confidence into the group, you can't fake confidence into the group. The only thing that gives confidence is performance.
"First half of the competition we certainly felt like we weren't near our full potential. And when you're playing at 50% or 60%, obviously, you try 100%, but you don't get the confidence in your group.
"The competition is so strong, the teams are so strong that you'll get hurt [if you are not at 100%]."
Green thought Du Plessis had taken a risk by choosing to bat first, but it was a decision that paid off.
He said: "It was [a brave call]. I definitely wasn't in agreement with [batting first] so credit to the captain and coach. SRH have been batting beautifully when they bat first - that was the main reason.
"We always have to celebrate little wins and we feel pretty good now. Always nice to be back to winning ways."
Asked about his catch to dismiss Klaasen, he added: "I think the whole time I kept thinking 'Klaasen, Klaasen' in my head!
"It was up there for a while, happy I hung on to it."
RCB are away to the Titans on Sunday, before playing at home against Shubman Gill's side on May 4.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
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