Virat Kohli believes Murali Vijay's dismissal the turning point

Chasing 364 to win on the final day, the tourists looked in good shape at 242-2 with Kohli and Vijay at the crease and a maximum of 29 overs left in the day.

However, Vijay fell lbw to off-spinner Nathan Lyon - who finished with second-innings figures of 7-152 - for a patient 99 and from that point on the India innings fell apart.

Stand-in captain Kohli was seventh out for a superb 141, his second century of the game, before India eventually fell to 315 all out as the last eight wickets went down for 73 runs.

Asked if he thought Vijay's demise was the crucial moment, Kohli responded: "Could be. If me and Vijay added about 40 runs there, the game would have been different.

"You see one opening and the team capitalises, and that's what Autstralia did."

Kohli was removed when he pulled a ball from Lyon into the hands of Mitchell Marsh on the deep midwicket boundary, and the batsman was left disappointed with the manner of his dismissal.

"I was trying to hit it much more in front of square," he said.

"But it was one of those mistakes I'll reflect back and say maybe I could have done better and played a different shot. It was a great spell by Nathan Lyon and he bowled in [the] right areas.

"I told the guys last evening that whatever be the target, we will chase it. You have to play with passion and commitment if you have been chosen to play for your country."

Kohli was magnanimous in defeat, and paid tribute to India's opponents as they sealed victory just over two weeks after the passing of Phillip Hughes.

"I would like to congratulate the whole Australia team," he said.

"Actually participating here after all that happened in the last 10 days is commendable. They are also a team that plays with passion and commitment.

"It was a great game of cricket, I'm proud of the boys, the kind of character they showed in tough situations. It was a really good effort. I'm pretty pleased with the way we played, but Australia did better than us."