They faced the pink ball for about 45 minutes with batting coach Vikram Rathour and fielding coach R Sridhar keeping an eye on the two players.

Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed in the most bizarre of ways as his bat got stuck at the crease.

Rahane, who led India to historic Test series win in Australia, also backed spinners to do well after being uneventful in the first Test.

Cummins, who was Australia vice-captain for the four-match Test series, said Pujara turned out to be the deciding factor with his rock solid performances with the bat.

Pujara pulled a short delivery from off-spinner Bess but the shot got deflected off the short-leg fielder and popped up straight to short mid-wicket where Rory Burns pouched it safely.

Pant shared a 119-run partnership with Pujara, who scored 73, for the fifth wicket as the duo looked to bring India back on track from 73/4.

In the final session on Sunday, Pujara pulled a short delivery from off-spinner Bess but the shot got deflected off the back of the short-leg fielder.

Rajkot-born Pujara proved to be Australia’s nemesis yet again in the recent four-match series Down Under, scoring three half-centuries but more importantly consuming over 900 balls.

The 31-year-old stood batsman like a rock through the series, quite literally in the final Test in Brisbane, where he took multiple blows on the body to keep a relentless Australian attack at bay.

The Gujarat batsman, 33, has played five ODIs for India, making his last appearance in the fifty-over format in 2014 against Bangladesh.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli wished Cheteshwar Pujara a happy birthday on Monday morning as the Indian Test specialist turned 33 on the day.

Pujara played a key role in helping India draw the third Test at Sydney and in Australia's defeat in the fourth and final Test at the Gabba.

Pujara explains why he purposely let the ball hit his body as Pat Cummins made things difficult for him in the middle with his short deliveries.

Pujara coped with two scary bouncers during the match, one hitting him in the back head while the other rattling the cage in front.

Cheteshwar Pujara sustained a number of body-blows, and was hit on the helmet twice (so far!) on the final day of the Brisbane Test. 

The fans were torn over the DRS ruling on Cheteshwar Pujara during the final day of the Brisbane Test.

Smith (900 points) is placed second behind New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (919) with Kohli at third with 870 points.

The trio of Pujara, Pant and Ashwin navigated through a hostile Australian bowling attack on the final day to snatch a remarkable draw against the home team.

Cheteshwar Pujara fell after a valiant 77 off 206 deliveries on Day 5 of the Sydney Test.

In a hot pursuit to chase down a record 407-run target in Sydney Test, the Indian batting mainstay breached the milestone while hitting his first half-century in the second innings in six years.