IND vs AUS 4th Test: Pat Cummins stopped short of fifty by Nitish Kumar Reddy’s stunning catch | WATCH

Australia captain Pat Cummins led from the front as he and Steve Smith piled the pressure on the Indian bowlers on day two of the Boxing Day Test. Cummins scored 49 runs off 63 balls to take Australia past the 400-run mark in Melbourne and take his side to a dominant position in the match.

Cummins was eventually undone by a delivery from Ravindra Jadeja where the right-hander lost his shape a little and Nitish Kumar Reddy took a stunning running catch to dismiss the Australian captain.

Cummins came in to bat on 299/6 when it looked like Australia's innings might soon be over. However, the Aussie captain put a high price on his wicket and counter-attacked the Indian bowlers for a hard-fought 49.

Cummins has scored only 1,354 in his 65 Tests at an average of 16.7, but it has long been known that he is a far better batsman than those figures suggest. Cummins was also praised during the first Test when he came in to bat in the fourth innings of the Perth Test after bowling 25 overs in the final innings. However, Cummins did not last long for any heroics in the 1st Test, and was eventually dismissed for 2.

The Australian captain has also made his mark with the ball in the series, taking 16 wickets in the 5 innings so far with best figures of 5/57 in the Adelaide Test.

Australia take commanding position in Melbourne:

After the dismissal of Cummins, Steve Smith (134) put on a good partnership with Mitchell Starc (15) to put Australia on 454/7 at lunch on day two in Melbourne.

After lunch, however, the Indian bowlers got back into the game, dismissing Smith (140), Lyon (13) and Starc (15) to end the Australian innings on 474. Cummins and Co will now look to put the Indian batsmen under pressure from the outset and continue their dominance.