India vs Australia 2019: 3 major talking points from the ODI series

2. Australia are back

Australia are back to their best even without Smith and Warner

With just 2 wins from 18 games in 2018 and a series loss against India at home to start the year 2019, Australia seemed to be underdogs going into the World Cup. Coming into this series, the sixth-ranked Aussies seemingly had little chance against an in-form Indian team in India.

But what transpired will raise the hopes of every Australian fan for the title defense in the World Cup.

After being down 0-2, Australia bounced back to win three consecutive games to take the series, their first on Indian soil since 2009. The team, which had seen only patches of individual brilliance over the past year, fired in unison to dump the second-ranked Indian side.

The out of form openers found their mojo with Usman Khawaja scoring two hundreds and a 95 in the last three games and Aaron Finch returning to form after long. Peter Handscomb ably fulfilled the role Steven Smith used to play, and Glenn Maxwell seemed to have new-found determination in him. Ashton Turner, the hero from the fourth game, showed his finishing prowess.

Adam Zampa was the wrecker-in-chief with the ball, getting the better of most Indian batsmen numerous throughout the series. Pat Cummins was on a wicket-taking spree and young Jhye Richardson was impressive too.

Now with Smith, Warner, Starc and Hazelwood to return for the World Cup, Australia have a problem of plenty, something which they will happily accept.