Five Indians who made Australia their bunny 

Australia are known to be one of the toughest teams to beat in cricket. They are the most successful team in ODIs, having won 554 out of 903 matches and five World Cups, including three consecutive ones (1999, 2003 and 2007).

They had the best opening batsmen in the world in Hayden-Langer (Tests) and Hayden-Gilchrist (ODIs), the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the world in Gilchrist, a top-notch middle order with Ricky Ponting as the pivot around which everything revolved, the best spin bowler in the world, Shane Warne, and the Glenn McGrath-led pace attack that was the envy of the rest of the world.

Even today, they are a tough nut to crack. However, there have been a few Indian players who have performed exceedingly well against the Aussies. Players like Harbhajan Singh, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and most recently Kuldeep Yadav have performed admirably against Australia.

On that note, let’s look at five Indians who made Australia their bunny.

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#5 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh, India’s most successful off-spinner, was always filled with passion. Against Australia especially, he always looked to raise his game one level higher. Who can forget the 2001 Test series, where he ran riot, picking 32 wickets in three games including a Test hat-trick.

It is no secret that Bhajji had a personal rivalry with the Aussies. Right from his first ODI against Australia, where he picked up 3 for 41, he performed sensationally. When India won the Commonwealth Bank tri-series finals in 2008, Bhajji played a key part, picking up 2/38 and 1/44 in the two finals. He broke vital partnerships (Hayden-Symonds), derailing Australia's innings. Even in his last ODI series against Australia, he took 8 wickets in 6 games at an average of 33.8 and an economy of 4.5.

Harbhajan has picked 32 wickets in 35 games at an impressive economy of 4.64 against the Aussies and has himself gone on to say that Australia are one of his favourite opponents.

Matches - 35, Wickets - 32, Best Bowling - 3/37, Bowling Average - 46.44, Economy - 4.64

#4 VVS Laxman

VVS Laxman scored heavily against Australia

VVS Laxman had one of the most gifted wrists in the cricketing world. The way he used his wrists to manoeuvre the ball and find gaps was simply sensational. Laxman had a special liking towards Australia. He scored a majestic 281 (in the 2nd innings) in the famous Kolkata Test which helped India win the match after following-on.

Among all the teams that he played against, Laxman averaged the most against Australia in ODIs. Out of his six ODI centuries, four came against them. In the 2003/04 Tri-series, he scored back-to-back hundreds (103* and 106*).

Having scored more than 31% of his ODI career aggregate runs against Australia, he made them a bunny of sorts and tormented them across formats.

Matches - 21, Innings - 19, 50s - 2, 100s - 4, Runs - 739, Average - 46.19, Strike-rate - 77.09, Highest Score - 106*

#3 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has always risen to the Aussie challenge

Virat Kohli is a player who wears his heart on his sleeve. He never backs away from a contest and relishes playing under pressure. He has a special connection with Australia and loves playing against them.

Sledging has always spurred him on and that maybe one of the reasons why he has scored heavily against the Aussies. He is one of four Indians to have scored more than 1000 ODI runs against Australia. He averages a splendid 54.70, with a strike-rate of 96.21 and 5 hundreds, against them. In 2013, he scored the fastest 100 by an Indian (in 52 balls) and that too came against the Kangaroos. In his last ODI series against them, he scored 358 runs in 5 games.

It is no secret that Kohli loves the Aussie challenge. Be it in India or Australia, he is always amongst the runs.

Matches - 25, Innings - 23, 50s - 5, 100s - 5, Runs - 1094, Average - 54.70, Strike-rate - 96.21, Highest Score - 118

#2 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has always scored heavily against Australia

Rohit Sharma is one of the most talented batsmen India has ever produced. He has so much time to play his shots and his timing is impeccable.

Rohit loves batting against Australia. He has scored more than 1/5th of his career ODI runs against them. He has 5 ODI hundreds and 3 fifties with a staggering average of 63.42 and an impressive strike-rate of 94.87. His first double ton (209) also came against Australia, in 2013 in Bangalore.

Australia certainly brings the best out of Rohit and his record justifies that. He has certainly made Australia his bunny.

Matches - 25, Innings - 25, 50s - 3, 100s - 5, Runs - 1332, Average - 63.42, Strike-rate - 94.87, Highest Score - 209

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar scored 3077 runs in ODIs against Australia

Sachin Tendulkar is the most complete batsman of his time and arguably the biggest cricket icon the game has ever known.

Australian fans might never forget the year 1998. The way Tendulkar tormented Australia was simply magical and phenomenal. He scored 3 ODI hundreds in that year against Australia alone. The ‘desert storm’ innings (143) was followed by a phenomenal 134 (2 days later) in the final of the Coca-Cola Cup, then a majestic 141 in the quarterfinal of the Wills Cup.

Tendulkar tormented the Aussies throughout his career, scoring more than 3000 runs, with 9 centuries. Even late in his career, he continued to haunt them with big scores like 117 and 91 (in the Tri-series finals in 2008), 175 (chasing 350 in Hyderabad in 2009) and a crucial 53 in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal.

Matches - 71, Innings - 70, 50s - 15, 100s - 9, Runs - 3077, Average - 44.59, Strike-rate - 84.74, Highest Score - 175