After seven long years Australia turns cricket tables on India

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India landed in Australia a couple of months ago proudly holding aloft the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

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But when the squad returns home this week, it won’t have to fill out any customs declaration forms as India came out second best in the battle for supremacy between the best cricketing nation in the world versus the richest country in the sport of bat and ball.

Pat Cummins and his Australian squad had set their minds on getting their hands back on the trophy after seven long years and they did it in magnificent style, much to the delight of their fans as they deservedly won 3-1.

In one of the most exciting series, 838,000 fans clicked through the turnstiles to set a world attendance record. Of course, the crowd included thousands of diehard Indian fans who made the long journey Down Under only to return home in despair after watching their leading batsmen unable to buy runs.

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Australia sealed victory in the finale in Sydney by six wickets that saw tensions between the two squads reach a boiling point on two occasions before calm was restored.

This was mainly due to captains Rohit Sharma, his deputy Jasprit Bumrah and Cummins, who put their belief in playing the game instead of resorting to warfare. All credit to both skippers and, as Cummins said “the series lived up to the hype.”

Like a pendulum, it swung from one end to another with the Aussies excelling with bat and ball while Indian stars struggled when they were needed the most.

India, of course, started off like a house on fire by taking the first Test in Perth by a massive 295 runs, but the home team responded by levelling the series by taking the Adelaide stop by 10 wickets. Rain in Brisbane saw the next one drawn before the Aussies went up 2-1 in Melbourne and put the icing on the cake in Sydney.

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The hero in Sydney was fast bowler Scott Boland, who only got into the team following an injury to Josh Hazlewood. Boland took 21 wickets in just three appearances and will be a main weapon in Australia’s coming matches that includes the World Test Championship final at Lord’s in June.

Australia can be proud of two other players who made their debuts. Nineteen-year-old Sam Konstas made his mark with a speedy 60 on his debut and 6-foot-7 all-rounder Beau Webster slammed the Indians for 57 and 39 not out in his maiden Test in Sydney.

The teenager won the hearts of the Aussie fans with his dazzling shots. but he will have to control his mouth if he wants to establish himself on the squad.

Australia’s senior stars Travis Head and Steve Smith also starred with 448 and 314 runs, respectively.

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“There were some key moments from some of our mainstays who really stood up,” Cummins said. “You need that to beat a side like India and in those key moments those guys put their hands up.”

As far as India is concerned, new coach Gautham Gambhir finds himself in a quandary. Under his watch, India now has lost two series and that included the 3-0 whitewash at home by New Zealand prior to this tour. He will be under the gun in the next few tournaments and another disaster in the Champions Trophy next month could seal his fate.

His handling of the issue involving ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also blew up in his face. Ashwin packed his bags and flew home prior to the start of the third Test. Then there has been the case of skipper Sharma dropping himself for the fifth encounter because of his poor form, something unheard of in the Test arena.

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Sharma missed the first Test because of the birth of his second child, but on rejoining the team he struggled, scoring a measly 31 runs in five innings. Kohli also failed to live up to his legendary status with 168 runs and that included one century in the first Test.

The only Indian to live up to his lofty reputation was pacer Bumrah. We are running out of superlatives to describe his brilliance and if he hadn’t limped off in Sydney, India may have tied the series and held on to the trophy.

The fast bowler, who consistently bowls a good length and can swing the ball both ways at a steady 85 mph, was a thorn in the side of the Aussies and he had a remarkable haul of 32 wickets.

Australia opener Usman Khawaja paid Bumrah a glowing tribute.

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“I was just getting Bumrah’d. It’s a shame he was (injured) but thank God for us. Today would’ve been an absolute nightmare facing him on that wicket,” he said.

Unfortunately, Bumrah received little support from the other seamers. Youngster Prasidh Krishna took six wickets in Sydney and Mohammad Sirah weighed in with 20 wickets.

But Akash Deep and Harshit Rana fell below expectations. Other youngsters that did well for India were 23-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal and 21-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Jaiswal averaged 43.44 on his first tour and all-rounder Reddy averaged 37.25 with one century.

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