Cricket glory

Cricket glory

Beating Australia in Australia is a watershed moment for India.

In a historic achievement for Indian cricket, Team India has virtually sealed its first Test series win in Australia. The four match series has already seen India winning the first and third Test matches while Australia won in the second. In the ongoing final Test match only two outcomes are possible after India posted a mammoth total of 622 runs – an Indian victory or a draw. In fact, with the Australian batting having to follow on in this Test, a series levelling win by the hosts is already beyond reach.

There’s no denying that India has been the dominant side in this series. Skipper Virat Kohli and his boys have outplayed the Aussies in every department of the game. Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara – who scored three centuries in the series – and Rishabh Pant made sure the Indian batting kept firing despite opening pair woes. But it was the Indian pace bowling that really proved incisive in this tour. The trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami caused problems for the Aussie batsmen and collectively became the highest wicket takers in 2018.

That said, we must also accept this was perhaps one of the weakest Australian teams India faced. After the ball tampering scandal last year which saw the suspension of three Australian players including Steve Smith and David Warner, the team has been in disarray and looking to rebuild during this series. Still, one can never count out Australia in Australia. On the Indian side, Kohli and company were very aggressive and backed themselves to win. Thanks to this winning mentality, this team has put to rest India’s reputation as poor travellers. Indians are no longer just flat track bullies. Beating Australia in Australia is definitely a watershed moment.