Australia took only three wickets on the day, as India defied a mounting injury toll and what was expected to be an uneven pitch to finish at 5-334, 73 short of an even more unlikely victory.

Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin will be feted as heroes in India after a spirited fight against the progressively weary, desperate and frustrated Australians.

Few expected anything other than an Australian procession on day five, especially when the Aussies struck in the second over of the day as Nathan Lyon had captain Ajinkya Rahane caught.

It was a surprise to see Rishabh Pant come to the middle at the fall of that wicket, not just because he was unable to keep wickets due to an elbow injury, but because he was elevated from number six to number five in the batting order, clearly with the intention of increasing the run rate alongside Cheteshwar Pujara.

And it worked a treat, with Rishabh scoring 73 of India's 108 runs in the first session of the day, all for the loss of just Rahane, putting them on pace for an unlikely victory.

Rishabh and Pujara continued to frustrate Australia for the first 45 minutes after lunch as Pujara reached his second half-century for the match and Rishabh powered towards a ton.

But the aggressive wicketkeeper-batsman went for one slog too many and sliced Lyon to backward point, falling just three runs short of a century.

India's chances of scoring an unlikely victory took arguably a bigger not long after when Josh Hazlewood found the top of Pujara's off stump, sending the bails flying.

Adding to the pain, the last recognised batsman, Vihari, had just pulled up lame while running between wickets and was hobbled by an apparent hamstring injury for the rest of his innings.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja padded up in the stands, despite sustaining a broken and dislocated thumb in the first innings that prevented him from fielding in the second innings.

All that meant a charge for victory was basically off the cards and Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin pivoted to survival mode, making it to tea with five wickets in hand, but still 127 runs from victory with 36 overs left.

It set the scene for what loomed a thrilling final session. In truth, Vihari and Ashwin had it covered themselves.

There were scares, mostly early in the final session. Ashwin was given out first ball back, but was reprieved when the DRS correctly spotted that a Cummins short ball hit arm guard, not glove, on its way to keeper Tim Paine.

Ashwin rode his luck for a while, and was dropped at square leg by sub fielder Sean Abbott, but looked more and more settled as the session progressed.

Runs were no longer an issue, not least because Vihari was physically unable to run between wickets, so India simply shut up shop. Australia, despite its increasing desperation, could find no way through.

Tensions flared as stumps approached as Paine attempted to break Ashwin's concentration with some heated words behind the stumps, but the Indians had the last laugh when Paine dropped a diving chance off a Vihari edge.

That miss from a rare chance, with only a handful of overs remaining, was to be the final blow for Australia. It was symbolic of Australia's frayed tempers throughout the Test, and the many small mistakes it made on the final day which cost it victory.

India's draw means the series will be decided at the Gabba.

A win or draw will see India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, meaning nothing but victory will suffice for Australia.