India v Australia 2019: Australia storms back into World Cup contention

When India went 2-0 up after their tight victory in Nagpur a mere week ago, the writing seemed to be on the wall and the general thought was that this hotchpotch Australian side would slide to another ODI series loss - how wrong we were.

You would have been forgiven for giving Australia little chance in this series. India has been a burial ground for teams with much greater talent and pedigree than this current outfit, yet through sheer grit, determination and the awakening of Peter Handscomb and Usman Khawaja as ODI batsmen, Australia has stormed back into World Cup contention.

With Ashton Turner's stunning knock in Chandigarh, Khawaja's twin centuries as well as Pat Cummins being, well, Pat Cummins, Australia didn't only manage to salvage their reputation with a few conciliatory wins, but also stormed back to take the series in what was unthinkable circumstances from being two games down.

What this has shown is that Australia may well have finally turned a corner. In series past, a team of this calibre, missing their two biggest stars, would have shown some competitive flair yet wilted under the pressure in the cauldron that is India. Yet, a team that has suddenly gelled into what has proven to be a cohesive unit not only won but thrived under the pressure bestowed on them.

Usman Khawaja, never having established himself in the coloured kit, hit 380 runs with two centuries and a 91 in a series were the conditions were far from easy.

Using all his guile, grit and flair he batted with patience and resolve to ensure Australia had a platform to build on before the heavy hitters came out to play. This approach shows a level of maturity not seen in Australia's ODI set up since the suspension of Steve Smith. Combine this with Handscomb's similar efforts, and it bodes well for when Smith and Warner return.

Australia has been guilty over the preceding few years of picking batsmen on their ability to tee off, power hit and indeed their exploits in the BBL - choosing power over patience and tenacity will never provide the consistency needed in modern ODI cricket.

Now we see a side that finally, on results alone, looks balanced throughout the order. The most poignant element of this is that almost every player contributed at some stage throughout the tour.

Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon bowled with control, Stoinis broke through when needed and provided handy runs and the new kid on the block Ashton Turner provided a blueprint on how to chase a ridiculous target with some audacious, yet tempered, power hitting.

The World Cup always throws up a myriad of surprises and it is almost impossible to pick a clear favourite, but what we know now is after this miraculous comeback and series win by Australia, they will not go gently into that good night as most expected.

They might just have a few more surprises up their sleeve when they begin their campaign in the British Isles.