India wins test match series against Australia
The Border–Gavaskar Trophy is a Test cricket series played between India and Australia since 1996. India has developed a reputation of being particularly difficult to beat at home, having lost only two test series since 1986–87. Conversely, India had never managed to win a test series in Australia until 2018-19 series, which has recently concluded in Australia.It is a rare first Down Under for India since Lala Amarnath’s side visited the country just after independence to face Sir Donald Bradman’s team. The Australian batting was definitely weak due to the absence of their best batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner, but this not take the credit away from the Indian team led by Virat Kohli, which has conquered unchartered territory with a lion-hearted display.
While skipper Kohli hit the best hundred of the series, in terms of sheer skill on the difficult Perth pitch, it was Cheteshwar Pujara’s unstoppable 521 runs and Jasprit Bumrah’s 21 wickets which were the highlights of the memorable win.
Kohli was more focussed on getting his leadership skills right and he did succeed. He is the only captain in not only India but in all of Asia to have won four Test Series away from home ground in a single calendar year. This a great boost to Kohli’s confidence as India gears up for the World Cup.
If this victory is put into perspective with some of Indian cricket’s famous wins it will be right up there both in terms of novelty and quality!