Pat Cummins declared Australia's fourth Test victory over India one of the best he has played in after his side dramatically took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series at the MCG.

The hosts took seven wickets in the evening session on day five to bowl their visitors out for 155 and seal a 184-run victory.

India had been set a target of 340 in 92 overs but never looked interested in chasing the total, batting 79.1 overs in their doomed attempt to save the game.

Cummins received some criticism for not declaring overnight but his approach was justified as Australia took the final wicket with time to spare.

He said: "What an amazing Test match, I reckon one of the best I've been part of.

"All week the crowd has been ridiculous. It started with an amazing innings from Steve Smith. It wasn't easy on the first day so to get up to high 400s (474) was terrific. He showed how to bat on this wicket.

"We wanted to take an India victory out of the equation. We put a lot of work into our lower-order batting and how we can contribute."

With time running out, Cummins turned to spin in order to bowl as many overs as possible.

Nathan Lyon sent down 20.1 overs, more than any of his team-mates, while Travis Head claimed the wicket of Rishabh Pant during his five-over stint.

Cummins said: "We had plenty of runs to play with, and as many helmets around the bat as we could.

"We were a bit behind on the over rate so we thought, get Trav in there, it may help us out with that. There were also some very handy catches that go unnoticed in the slips.

"It's a very happy changing room and we'll savour this before we get to Sydney."

The fifth Test starts at the SCG on Friday, with India still able to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by claiming victory and tying the series at 2-2.