Australia vs India 2018/19: 5 best players of the series

India's tour of Australia is finally coming to its last chapter. The tour started with a three-match T20 series which ended up with a 1-1 draw as the second T20 at MCG was washed away by rain. The Test series started with an Indian win at Adelaide and should have ended with an Indian win but rain played the spoilsport in Sydney and hence India won the series by 2-1.

Team India led by Virat Kohli made history by defeating Australia in Australia. India has been touring Australia since 1947/48 but none of the Indian team were able to achieve the feat that this team India has done. They dominated the entire series except for Perth.

This Border-Gavaskar trophy Test series in Australia has seen some brilliant performances from both the teams. So let's take a look at the 5 best players of the series.

#5 Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami bowled consistently well throughout the series

Mohammed Shami has been excellent for India this entire season of overseas cricket. His combination with Ishant and Bumrah has formed a formidable pace trio over the last one year which has picked up more wickets than any other fast bowling combination in 2018.

Shami has usually been used as the third pacer who bowls after Ishant and Bumrah. He does an excellent job to keep the pressure up that has been created by the opening bowlers. He utilizes the new ball as well as the old ball with finesse.

Shami has been more threatening in the second innings. His bowling in the second innings of the Perth Test match was absolutely superb. He picked up 6 wickets in the innings and recorded his best figure in Australia of 6/56.

Shami ended the series as the third highest wicket-taker of the series. He picked up 16 wickets in the series at an average of 26.18.

#4 Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant ended the series as the second highest run-getter

Rishabh Pant was in his first tour of Australia and he grabbed a few headlines by his wicketkeeping, sledging and batting. The 21-year-old was the part of the team in England and eventually made his debut in the third Test match at Nottingham.

Everyone knew Rishabh as a talented young cricketer but his true test of character was to be judged on this tour of Down Under and this young man has impressed all. His glove work behind the stumps was good along with his sledging, as he kept annoying the Aussies and forced them to make some mistakes.

Rishabh made many records on this tour both in wicketkeeping and batting. In the first Test at Adelaide, he took eleven catches in the match, the most by a wicketkeeper for India in Test cricket. He now has the most dismissal to his name for a wicketkeeper in a Test series for India. He is also the first Indian wicketkeeper to score a Test century in Australia.

The most surprising achievement for Pant in this series is that he has scored more runs and averaged better than Virat Kohli. He has scored 350 runs in the series at an average of 58.33 and ended up as the second highest run-getter of the series. He scored a magnificent 159* at the last Test match in Sydney.

#3 Nathan Lyon

Nathan Lyon was one of Australia's best player of the series

If there was any player in the Australian line-up that kept challenging the Indian team in the whole series than it was Nathan Lyon. He was one of the best bowlers of the series and definitely one of Australia's best player of the series.

Lyon kept troubling the Indian batsmen in every match. It was quite visible that Indian batsmen were being extra cautious against him. Whatever be the condition of the pitch he kept bowling in the right areas and was able to get something out of the pitch.

Lyon's great effort with the ball can be judged by the fact that he picked up a five-fer in the greenish Perth pitch in the first innings of India. He is the only bowler to have two five-fers to his name in the series.

Lyon was the joint highest wicket-taker in the series along with Jasprit Bumrah with 21 wickets. He also bowled the most numbers of over in the series with 242.1 overs.

#2 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah was the best bowler of the series

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the star performers of the series. His impact in the series can be imagined by the fact that he has moved from 28th to 12th in the ICC Test bowlers ranking. His performance in Australia has made him be considered as one of the best in the world.

After making his Test debut in South Africa, Bumrah has never looked back. He is now the only Asian bowler to pick up a five-fer in South Africa, England and Australia. With his unusual action and short run-up, he has surprised the world with his heroics in Test cricket.

Since the first Test match at Adelaide Bumrah had started to dominate the Australian batting line-up. He was the most laboured bowler for India bowling the most number of overs in the series. Bumrah is definitely one of the main reason for India's series win in Australia.

Jasprit Bumrah finished his first Test series in Australia as the highest wicket-taker. He picked up 21 wickets in the series at an average of 17.00. He had 6 wickets to his name at Melbourne and was named the man of the match for his match figure of 9/86.

#1 Cheteshwar Pujara

Cheteshwar Pujara scored three centuries in the series

Before the series started all eyes were on Virat Kohli considering the form he is in and also the fact that he had a terrific tour of Australia last time around, but Cheteshwar Pujara quietly grabbed all the limelight. Pujara's batting turned out to be the difference between the two teams in the series.

The Australian bowlers had no answer to Pujara's defence. He was solid as a rock and concentrated like a monk. He batted for a long period of time and tired the Aussie bowlers. All the other Indian batsmen batted around him while he kept demoralizing the Australian attack.

Pujara scored three hundred and one fifty in the series and ended up as the highest run-getter of the series with 521 runs at an average of 74.42. He started the tour with a superb century in the first inning and followed it up by a half-century in the second innings at Adelaide. He wasn't able to score a century at Perth and ironically India lost that match.

India's historic win at the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne was possible due to Pujara's gritty century in the first inning. Melbourne's century was followed by another one in Sydney but unfortunately, he missed the double century by just 7 runs.

India's tour of Australia 2018/19 will be remembered for years to come because of this historic Test series win and so will be the heroics of Cheteshwar Pujara.