India suffered a setback on the third day of the fourth Test against Australia, losing the crucial overnight pair of Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne on Saturday.

By the time lunch was called, India had managed to score 244 runs but had lost seven wickets, leaving them with a challenging task ahead.

India still need 31 runs to avoid follow-on and Nitish Kumar Reddy (40 batting) will have a lot on his plate even as he continues to impress one and all with his temperament.

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Reddy had Washington Sundar (5 batting) for company as India got 80 runs during the first session.

The talking point of the morning session will be Pant's (28 off 37 balls) shot selection under the circumstances.

The third day's MCG track is perhaps the best to bat on with green grass making way for a brownish tinge and old Kookaburra hardly doing anything. If Pant had stuck around, there was no way he wouldn't have scored big.

With Ravindra Jadeja (17 off 51 balls) for company, Pant did start well and got a few boundaries but then the urge to play the falling lap pull-over long-leg brought about his dismissal.

When Pant tried it for the first time off Scott Boland, who came around the wicket, he was hit in the naval area and seemed to be in pain.

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He got up but didn't realise that Pat Cummins had placed one fielder at deep fine-leg and one at deep third man for both the conventional and reverse lap shot.

Without learning his lessons or caring about success percentage, Pant tried a similar shot but the extra bounce meant that the top edge flew to third man for a regulation catch.

But Reddy showed steely resolve as he started with a punchy off-drive off Nathan Lyon and also jumped down the track to loft him over for a straight six.

In the meantime, Reddy also lost his senior partner Jadeja, who was trapped leg-before by Lyon, but that didn't deter the Visakhapatnam youngster from playing his shots and being watchful when the situation demanded.