IND vs AUS, 3rd ODI: Handscomb's fifty revives Australia's inning, are 207/7 after 44 overs

Peter Handscomb contributed a crucial half-century to revive Australia's inning, after the hosts lost three wickets in quick succession, thanks to Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, to dip further in the third and final ODI.

Australia had recovered from the early losses before Chahal displayed a brilliant spell of bowling to send two set batsmen and another back to the pavilion.

Both Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh were dismissed off Chahal while trying to hit a shot. While Marsh was stumped by MS Dhoni, Khawaja caught and bowl by the bowler.

Marcus Stoinis was the third player to be dismissed by the right-arm leg spinner.

Earlier, Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck twice after the rain break to dismiss Australian openers Alex Carey and Aaron Finch in the third and final ODI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

He also took a brilliant catch of Glenn Maxwell to hand Shami his first wicket of the game.

Put into bat, Australia's score stands at 92 for the loss of two wickets after 22 overs.

Earlier, incessant rain delayed the start of the third and final ODI on Friday after skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl.

India are eyeing a maiden bilateral ODI series triumph on Australian soil after the path-breaking Test conquest.

The three-match series is level at 1-1 after Australia won the first ODI in Sydney by 34 runs and India clinched the second in Adelaide by six wickets.

Speaking after the toss, Kohli said, " It's going to be stop-start, with the rain around, and as a batsman we are never in, so that's the idea. Levelling the series was important, now both the teams are set up for the decider. Siraj makes way for Vijay Shankar, Chahal for Kuldeep, Jadhav for Rayudu."

When asked what strategy will Australia adopt for the series decider, skipper Aaron Finch said, "There might be a touch of moisture but it's still a good surface. It might be slow to start with, but it won't change too much during the course of the game. I think It's been an exciting couple of weeks, a great win in Sydney and a really good game in Adelaide. We're ready to go for the series decider. I do hope to just get back to my natural game to be honest. Changes: Stanlake in for Behrendorff and Zampa in for Lyon."

India have never won a bilateral ODI contest on Australian soil, and their only two series' wins in this format have come in 1985 (World Championship of Cricket) and 2008 (CB Series).