There were questions over India’s batting coming into the series, after being bowled out for 46, 156 and 121 in their 3-0 defeat by New Zealand.
Opener and captain Rohit Sharma is missing this game after the birth of his second child, while number three Shubman Gill was not considered for selection after injuring a thumb in India’s intra-squad warm-up.
That led to KL Rahul opening and Padikkal, playing in his second Test, coming in at three.
With the pressure on Kohli to hold the innings and makeshift line-up together, he brought energy to the crease and looked proactive, but once again he failed.
It was beautiful bowling from Josh Hazlewood to set him up, going slightly shorter, and he found extra bounce to bring the outside edge.
It was Kohli’s fifth single-figure score in his past 10 Test innings – where he averages just 21.2, compared to his career average of 47.6. His average innings has lasted just 29.4 balls, way down on the 80.3 across his career.
The rest of the India batting line-up was blown away by the accuracy of the Australia seamers.
There was barely a loose ball, and subtle changes of line often brought the edge, with nine of the wickets caught behind the stumps by Alex Carey or the cordon.
Rahul’s dismissal, given out caught behind on review, was controversial, with the Indian convinced that the noise on the snickometer technology was bat hitting pad, rather than an outside edge.
Pant, who is the one Indian batter in form, offered resistance alongside Kumar Reddy – with both offered a life – but Australia’s persistent nagging brought rewards.
