Handscomb steps up for Aussies in Ranchi

Peter Handscomb has hit his first half-century in the ongoing Test series between Australia and India, stepping up under immense pressure.

Peter Handscomb has hit his first half-century in the ongoing Test series with India. (AAP)

Peter Handscomb has proven he can thrive under immense pressure, stepping up where even Steve Smith failed on day five of the third Test between Australia and India.

Handscomb registered his first half-century of the four-Test series in Ranchi on Monday. It's comfortably the most important innings of his short career.

It wasn't so much about Handscomb's runs as the minutes and balls he soaked up in a game-changing partnership with Shaun Marsh.

The 25-year-old with an unorthodox technique knuckled down to drive the visitors closer to a draw that would be a moral victory, given they'd slumped to 4-63 before lunch on day five.

Short leg Karun Nair snatched at a half-chance when Handscomb was on six, while on 44 he survived a tight review and animated lbw appeal from Umesh Yadav.

Handscomb didn't panic after either incident. The composure was in line with how he spoke pre-series about the prospect of facing the two best spinners in the world, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

"You go to the tough places and play the best players in the world ... you want to do it," he said last month.

"You want to get over there and test yourself in the hardest conditions and if you come away from it relatively well, you can hold your head up high."

The Victorian impressed in both the first and second Test. He looked comfortable in all four digs but on every occasion wasted a start. Handscomb did however hit the headlines in Bangalore after telling Steve Smith to look to the stands for illegal advice regarding a review.

"He came up and sort of apologised to me," Smith said last week.

"He's looked pretty good without going on to make a score for us. He's had some good plans in place."

Handscomb was drafted into the Test XI in Adelaide as part of a mid-summer overhaul triggered by five straight losses. He arrived in India with great expectations and a Test batting average of 99.75, a product of two tons against Pakistan.