But it was Dhoni's knock that stood out as he almost single-handedly blunted the Australian bowling attack.
Dhoni walked in after India had scored just 14 runs after an hour's play and had lost Tendulkar, who was bowled by off-spinner Nathan Lyon (3/182).
Dhoni and Kohli then launched a counter-attack for their 128-run fifth-wicket stand but the scoring slowed down after Kohli was dismissed by Lyon. Kohli in his attempt to get aggressive was caught by Mitchell Starc off the bowling of Lyon.
Ravindra Jadeja (16), Ravichandran Ashwin (3) and Harbhajan Singh (11) all departed quickly and Dhoni risked running out of partners.
Kumar, however, proved an able ally for Dhoni. The debutant managed just 16 runs but made sure that his captain got the maximum amount of strike. Dhoni was in complete control of his brilliant innings and simply toyed with the Australian bowlers.
