Top 5 major streaks of Australia ended by India

India have made a habit of halting Australia's winning streak irrespective of whether it's men's or women's cricket.

Over the years, we have seen Indians punch above their weight against mighty Aussies and script a heist for the ages.

Sunday, September 26, proved to be yet another day where the Indians achieved something special on the cricket field at the expense of the Aussies in the final ODI of the three-match series in Mackay.

The Mithali Raj-led unit joined an elite list of Indian teams' that halted the Australian juggernaut.

On that note, let's take a look at Australia's top five major streaks that were broken by India:

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#1 16 consecutive Test wins (2001 & 2008)

The Australian men's Test team were a ruthless juggernaut in the late '90s and for the best part of 2000s. But if there were one team who constantly challenged the might of the Aussies, it were Team India

India broke Australia's winning streak twice during the 2000s besides being one of two teams to draw a Test series Down Under between 1999-2007.

The Asian giants first broke Australia's 16-match winning streak at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001, becoming only the third team in history to win a Test after being forced to follow on.

The win was engineered by a 376-run marathon stand between VVS Laxman (281) and Rahul Dravid (180) and a 13-wicket haul by Harbhajan Singh.

The home side backed it up with a thrilling win in Chennai to seal the rubber by a 2-1 margin.

Seven years later, India performed an encore at the WACA in Perth as they overcame their disappointment in the controversial Sydney Test by turning the tables on the Aussies.

The win was engineered by a collective all-round bowling performance-led by R.P. Singh (4/68 & 2/95) and Irfan Pathan (2/63 & 3/54), a spell for the ages by Ishant Sharma against Ricky Ponting, and valuable contributions with the bat from Rahul Dravid (93), Sachin Tendulkar (71) in the first innings and a brilliant 79 by VVS Laxman in the second.

India ultimately bowled Australia out for 340 on the fifth day to register a 72-run win.

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#2 9 consecutive Test series wins (2008)

4th Test - India v Australia: Day 5

Australia embarked on a juggernaut after a heartbreaking Ashes series defeat in the summer of 2005. The Ricky Ponting-led unit annihilated almost every team in the world for a better part of the next three years to win nine series on the bounce.

Ultimately, it was India who ended their winning run by handing the Aussies a 0-2 defeat in the four-match series on home soil in October 2008.

While the first and third Tests of the series in Bengaluru and Delhi ended in high-scoring draws, India came out as victors by a comprehensive margin of 320 and 172 runs in Mohali and Nagpur respectively.

The series also saw MS Dhoni become full-time Test captain after incumbent Anil Kumble hung up his boots at the end of the third Test. Sourav Ganguly also called time on his career after the final Test and with the home team regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in addition to halting Australia's streak, it proved to be a fairytale ending for the two icons of world cricket.

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#3 19-match unbeaten streak in home ODIs (2016)

Manish Pandey's unbeaten 100 helped India break Australia's ODI streak [Image- Getty]

Australia - under the leadership of Michael Clarke and then Steve Smith - proceeded to create a fortress at home in ODI cricket during the mid-2010s.

The streak began during the 2014 series against South Africa in November and continued until January 2016, which saw them win 18 out of 19 games at home; one match ended in a no result due to rain.

The run finally came to a halt against India at the SCG as the MS Dhoni-led unit chased down 331 thanks to an unbeaten 104 (81 balls) by Manish Pandey.

India may have lost the series 1-4 but ensured that they once again halted Australia's winning run.

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#4 31-match unbeaten streak at Gabba (2021)

Australia v India: 4th Test: Day 5

19th January 2021 will forever be remembered as a historic day in Indian cricket. It was a day where a young Indian team once again displayed to the world that no matter how difficult the situation is, they will rise like a Phoenix. India did the unthinkable by breaching the 'Gabbatoir'.

India showed immense courage, skill and temperament to stay on even terms in the Test series leading into the final day despite battling innumerable mental and physical scars.

If the humiliation of 36 all out in the first Test, the absence of Virat Kohli for the last three matches and injuries to Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja weren't enough, the visitors were dealt another body blow on the morning of the Brisbane Test with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin getting ruled out.

The Indian attack boasted Mohammed Siraj (playing in his third Test), debutants T Natarajan and Washington Sundar and one-Test old Shardul Thakur. The quartet had a total of 13 wickets among them and were up against arguably one of the greatest-ever bowling units assembled by Australia.

Yet, over the course of the next five days, the Indian bowlers showed that if a team possess courage, mental strength and the relentless desire to succeed, then they can topple even the best.

The Indian bowlers out-bowled their Aussie counterparts; Siraj claimed a second innings five-for, Thakur took seven in the game, and Natarajan and Sundar chipped in with crucial wickets at different stages.

Thakur and Washington brought their A-game with the bat as well, with the duo putting together a 123-run-stand in the first innings to ensure India stayed afloat in the game.

Chasing 328 on the final day, Shubman Gill (91) and Cheteshwar Pujara (56) provided their side with an ideal platform. Rishabh Pant (89*) and Washington Sundar (22) cashed in big time as the visitors scripted a heist for the ages.

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Record 26 consecutive wins in Women ODIs (2021)

It started with India back in 2018 when the Australian women's team avenged their heartbreaking 2017 World Cup semi-final defeat by handing a 0-3 drubbing to the Mithali Raj-led unit. The winning cycle eventually ended with the Women in Blue, who claimed a thrilling two-wicket win in Mackay on Sunday.

India would have been distraught, given the manner in which they lost the second ODI. The visitors dominated the game for a major part, but a plethora of dropped catches, sloppy fielding and a fateful no-ball on the final delivery of the game proved to be their undoing as Australia extended their winning streak to 26 games.

But on Sunday, the Women in Blue held their nerves as they gunned down the highest total (265) in their ODI history.

The win was set-up by a brilliant 50-run opening partnership and a solid 101-run stand between Shafali Verma (56 off 91) and Yastika Bhatia, who scored a classy 69-ball 64.

However, both batters fell in quick succession which led to a bit of stutter during the middle overs.

However, brisk cameos from Deepti Sharma (31 off 30) and Sneh Rana, who showed her full range of strokes, albeit thanks to a bit of luck, during her 27-ball 30 proceeded to put the Indians on the brink of victory.

Rana's dismissal in the penultimate over kept the Aussies interested, but Jhulan Goswami backed her bowling figures of 3/37 with a match-winning boundary to seal the deal for her side.