On the first day, we saw the dominance of Australia's batsmen. And on the second day too we saw the dominance of Australian bowlers. The IPL ended a few days ago. I thought Indian batsmen can play with responsibility in this match. Kohli has played very well in IPL. But no top-order batsman can collect more than 15 runs. Such poor batting was not expected from India's experienced top-order players. The Indian team is still behind by 318 runs. If Rahane doesn't play big innings I would say India will definitely lose this match.
Rahane may make some runs, but he needs support from the other end. After Bharath and Shardul, India is down to the tail and tailend. This is where Ashwin would have been valuable. Numerous times he rescued India in the past, with significant knocks down the order. And I don't think that avoiding the follow on will be a priority for India. Australia is unlikely to implement the follow on even if they get a lead of 200 plus. Because they don't want to bat on 4th and 5th day, as Jadeja really troubled some of the Australian batsmen in the first innings. Once they get Indian batsmen out, Australia is likely to bat again irrespective of the lead.