Australia vs India 2018-19: Historic win for Virat Kohli & Co, 71 years in the making

It has been a great way to start the new year for the Indian team as they have created history in Australia by registering their first ever Test series win - after a wait of 71 years.

Virat Kohli has become the first Indian captain to lead India to a series victory Down Under. People would argue that this wasn’t the best Australian side, but you can only play the opposition you have.

India were better than their opposition and deservedly won the series and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They dominated the Aussies completely in their own backyard.

The hosts were not even close to their best at any point in the series save for a few sessions in Perth. Rain and bad light aided them in the last Test or else the result would have been 1-3.

The Australians have a lot of thinking and soul-searching to do in the aftermath of this series loss.

India's No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara had an unbelievable series

After losing two overseas series in South Africa and England, India’s batting finally took the responsibility and put runs on the board. It was a series to remember for India’s No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara as he scored three hundreds in four games.

Pujara blunted the Australian bowling attack as much as he could as he batted for over 30 hours in the series. Maybe somebody told him that he wouldn't play for India for the next 6 months, so he wanted to maximize his time in the middle.

Pujara scored 521 runs in the series at an average of 74.43 which is by far his best performance in SENA countries.

Champion players score runs even when they are not at their best. And that was the case with Kohli. Even though he looked like he wasn’t in the most free-flowing form, he scored 282 runs at 40.29.

A special mention goes to the young wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant who scored 350 runs in the series and was the second highest run-getter after Pujara. Not many expected him to be so consistent. His innings of 159* in the last Test was of high quality.

India’s new opener Mayank Agarwal also showed that he belonged to this level with two half-centuries to his name. The likes of Hanuma Vihari and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with some useful scores, but Ajinkya Rahane’s form might be a concern for the team.

Jasprit Bumrah is the new bowling superstar of India

The bowlers continued what they did the entire year. It has been said time and again but you can’t resist to say it one more time: the Indian fast bowlers have been absolutely fantastic. This has to be the best fast bowling line-up India has ever produced, by far.

It's hard to believe that Jasprit Bumrah – the leading wicket-taker for India in the series - made his Test debut in January last year. Indian cricket fans keep talking about the batsmen but make no mistake, Bumrah is the new bowling superstar of the country. He picked up 21 wickets at a stunning average of 17.

Mohammed Shami wasn’t too far behind. He picked up some important wickets at the right times and his spell in the second innings at Perth was something that would make any Australian fast bowler proud.

Ishant Sharma and the three spinners supported these two well.

On the other hand, Australia kept struggling throughout the series. With the absence of David Warner and Steven Smith, there were questions on their batting before the series, and they will remain after it. Australia were made to follow-on at home for the first time since 2005, which is not a statistic they will look back on with fondness.

Marcus Harris might be the only positive with the bat for the Aussies. Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh, being the senior batsmen, had the responsibility of putting up runs on the board, but they disappointed badly. Travis Head and Peter Handscomb didn’t capitalize on the starts they got either.

There are also questions on Tim Paine’s place in the team. He might be the right man to lead the Aussies, but is he the right wicket-keeper batsman?

Australia struggled throughout the series

The bowling was supposed to be their strong point but that too didn’t live up to the expectations. Mitchell Starc was a huge let-down. He has been really poor since the Sandpaper Gate incident in Cape Town.

Josh Hazlewood couldn't find the right rhythm. Pat Cummins had one good Test but didn't do much in the others. Nathan Lyon was brilliant in the first couple of Tests but suddenly his effect was neutralized in the last two.

The fact that India made them bowl over 160 overs in the last two Tests took a toll on the Aussie bowlers, which was pretty evident in the last stages of the first innings at Sydney.

It takes something special to dominate a team like Australia in their own backyard and Virat Kohli’s team has done it. They deserve to celebrate the winning of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India don’t play any Tests till July this year, and all the focus will now shift onto the World Cup which will start in late May. But for the time being, they will enjoy the moment as they have done something which no other Indian team could do for 71 years.