Inexorably, inevitably, Australia is grinding its way to another win at the SCG.

India spent 25 overs contending with Mitchell Starc’s aggression and Ryan Harris’ excellence late on day two, and ended the day still more than 500 runs behind.

There is a mountain in front of the Indians at 1-71 in reply to Australia’s 572, and if Virat Kohli’s men extract themselves from this, then all credit to them.

I don’t see it in their body language or their performance.

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India bowled and fielded so badly on day one that it appeared to be a rudderless team, now that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has retired and the series lost. Today was better from the tourists, although another two catches went down, but so much ground was lost on the first day that for a fourth consecutive time Australia passed 500 in the first innings.

Joe Burns notches up his maiden Test 50. Photo: Getty

The highlight was Steve Smith’s magnificent 117, the new captain joining Sir Don Bradman and Jacques Kallis among Test batsmen to make hundreds in four consecutive matches. These are great men to be associated with, but Smith looked every centimetre a great player.

Now is the time to acknowledge the selectors here, for the insistence on playing a young Smith through his early travails was widely criticised a couple of years ago. Of course, kick-the-selectors is a national pastime, but on this occasion they got it right, and it needs to be acknowledged.

The measure of how well the Sydney-sider is playing is that when he was out, leaden-footed against Umesh Yadav so that he nicked to the keeper, there was a shocked silence at the SCG. Smith was playing so well, so calmly with his minimalist movement and his shot selection, that you figured he might make 300.

Smith’s response to elevation to the most prestigious position in Australian sport has been to peel off three hundreds on the trot. Needless to say, it is impressive.

Shane Watson perished to his own brain-fade at 81, pulling Mohammad Shami to be caught in the deep, but this was more par for the course. Watson’s history is that he is good for a few runs, and that his concentration expires. He actually played quite well but he has played that way for years, so no one ought to be surprised.

Mitchell Starc gets pumped up after dismissing Murali Vijay. Photo: Getty

Shaun Marsh also threw in 73 and Joe Burns, offered his best opportunity against a tired attack on a flat deck, reached a half-century. Burns seems to handle the short ball well and he seems to have something worth pursuing; when he reached 50 all six of the Australians had done so, the first time this has happened for an Australian team in all the years of Test cricket.

Four Indians reached centuries but they were all bowlers, although an honourable mention goes to Shami, who kept running in and ended with the first five-wicket haul by an Indian in the series. This the nub of Kohli’s problem, for his bowling attack is not of international standard. Ravi Ashwin is a decent off-spinner who has deeply troubled Australia in subcontinental conditions, but beyond that there is little that is threatening.

Yadav has a beautiful run-up and bowling action and much upside, but he is too inconsistent. Plainly he needs the influence of an astute bowling coach. Then there is Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who came back into the team and bowled at military medium-pace, plainly underdone and still troubled by his leg injury. What were the Indians thinking in choosing him? He could scarcely get the ball through at 125 km/h and while he can bowl when he is fit, he was not right to play this match. A second spinner might well have been a more astute option.

Australia’s declaration came at 3.48pm, just after tea and some Harris mayhem with the bat. When Mitchell Starc removed Murali Vijay with a slider in the first over, India was seriously wobbling and Starc went over-the-top with his celebration in Murali’s face. So much for David Warner’s suggestion that the send-off might be confined to the past.

But Starc was quick and excellent with the ball in hand and the pitch, docile for most of the first two days, suddenly did not look so benign. Australia has 19 wickets to get for a 3-0 series victory. With Nathan Lyon turning the ball nicely, it is only going to get harder for India from here.