IND VS AUS - 3rd ODI, Australia tour of India, 2017

So that was a Super Sunday then for Indian fans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their World T20 win in 2007. Australia came, but did not compete hard enough. There was a bit of fight, but it wasn't good enough to really down the Indians. It's 3-0 at the moment as the two teams fly down south to the much cooler garden city of Bengaluru. No doubt India would continue to be ruthless on the field. The last time these two sides met at the Chinnaswamy, it was a cracker of a contest. What's in store for us this time around. Join us on Thursday for answers. Until then, stay healthy, goodbye!

Harsha Bhogle: The sign of a good team is when players grow and play larger roles. Bhuvi and Bumrah have, the wrist spinners have and Pandya definitely has. The batsmen might have finished it but the bowlers in the last 15 overs set it up brilliantly. Along with his players, Kohli too is growing into his role. And getting more lucid too by the day. Good to hear.

Stat round-up:
- India have now won nine consecutive ODIs - the joint most for them equaling the nine they won between 14 Nov 2008 to 5 Feb 2009 under MS Dhoni.

- Six (the most) consecutive bilateral series wins for India:
Jan 2007 - Aug 2007 (R Dravid)
Nov 2007 - Jun 2009 (MS Dhoni)
Jun 2016 - pre (MS Dhoni/V Kohli)

- Most wins after first 38 ODIs as captain:
31 R Ponting
30 C Lloyd/ V Richards/ V Kohli
28 H Cronje/ M Clarke
27 Waqar Younis

- Australia losing first three matches of a 5-match bilateral series:
vs Eng, 2010
vs SA, 2015
vs Ind, 2017

- Most successive ODI wins for India at a home venue:
6 Cuttack (2007-17)
5 Kolkata (1991-94)
5 Indore - Holkar (2006-17)

Harsha Bhogle: A commanding win, another series in the bag and now, No. 1 on the ICC rankings. This is seriously good cricket by India. India are finding players for every situation; whether it is Pandya up the order or Pandey down to finish or Rahane joining Rohit at the top. The sign of a good team is when players grow and play larger roles. Bhuvi and Bumrah have, the wrist spinners have and Pandya definitely has. The batsmen might have finished it but the bowlers in the last 15 overs set it up brilliantly.

Hardik Pandya (Man of the Match): "It feels good. Almost through but I would want finish the match next time. I saw the promotion as an opportunity rather than a surprise. I wanted to target the left-arm spinner. When I got the sixes, I knew that I can play a few dot balls as well. I try to contribute in every way I can. I want to get better, there's always scope for improvement."

Kohli: "They batted really well, but we knew that if we get two, three wickets, we could pull it back. I was thinking this was a 330-340 wicket. The bowlers stood up when we wanted them to. That's been the feature of this team. Coming back from difficult situations, giving us more belief that we can do it again and again from any tough situation that we are put in. Wrist spinners need to be backed. I felt they were 35-40 runs short. That gave us a lot of confidence. Rohit and Rahane were very good and then Hardik Pandya, only he can do what he does when he bats like that. He (Pandya) is a star. He possess ability with the bat, ball and in the field as well. We have been wanting a guy like that for the past five, six years. A really explosive all-rounder is what we were missing and he's giving us that balance. A great asset for Indian cricket and I wish him all the best for the future. His promotion today was Ravi Bhai's (Ravi Shastri) thought. He felt we needed to attack the spinner. We totally back him and he's a hard working guy. We may give opportunities for people from now, but all 15 guys know that we got to be ruthless once we step onto the field. I know it won't happen every single day, but at least that mindset is there. Credit to the whole squad for the series win, but the journey stops only after the final game."

Smith: "I thought we set it up beautifully with the bat to launch at the back end, but I thought the Indian bowlers executed really well and we executed poorly. We couldn't get the boundaries. 330+ might have been a different result, but credit to India. Hardik was magnificent and Rohit and Jinks (Rahane) were fabulous too. I thought Finchy was magnificent, it was a great hundred. The pitch was pretty much the same for both teams until 35 overs, it did slow down towards the end. We weren't good enough to get the boundaries and get the score we needed."

Rahane: Felt really good the way I batted, especially the last knock gave me the confidence in Kolkata. We thought 290 was under par. With the way Australia were batting we thought they would get 330-340, but we bowled extremely well in the last 10 overs. Me and Rohit thought to play freely. We were trying to time the ball and for me it was important to get a single and give the strike to Rohit as he was batting so well. Last innings the cover drives came out well, but the Australians bowled much straighter lines today and I was waiting for the short balls to play the pull. We don't take things for granted. We want to win all the matches and take it one game at a time. We don't take the opposition lightly and it is important to give respect. The focus is on the Bangalore game.

When Pandya was promoted to No. 4, thoughts of "Are India going to do a Maxwell mistake?" were doing the rounds, but Pandya yet again proved that he was not just a slam-bam cricketer. Showed excellent maturity under pressure. Wasn't afraid to play the big shot if he was confident enough to go for it and more importantly did not fall in the sledging trap that the Aussies set.

"The wicket plays better underlights, I have batted here before," were Kohli's words at the toss and his understanding of the pitch and the conditions were spot on. How well the pitch played in the second innings. With no swing or seam movement, Cummins and Coulter-Nile were forced to operate without slip fielders and Rohit, realising that the ball was doing nothing, made a strong statement. One such statement went out of the ground too. Australia were clueless with a century opening stand until Rohit threw it away. Rahane too played very well for back-to-back fifties. Kohli and Jadhav departing in quick succession gave some hope for Australia, but Pandya and Pandey not only won the battle between bat and ball, saw off a deluge of sledges from Handscomb, Stoinis and Cummins to an extent too.

Where did Australia lose this? In the last ten odd overs, in the first ten overs with the ball, maybe the Pandya dropped catch. They had their chances in all three games, but failed to grab key moments. Clearly, India were the better side in all the games.

It's already 3-0 and how many times have you seen India seal a series over Australia in such dominating fashion with two more games left! India have now equalled their longest winning streak in ODIs - nine in a row. Very muted celebrations out there. Gentle smiles and handshakes. Virat doesn't go overboard, looks determined for a whitewash.

Kane Richardson to M Pandey, 1 run, gee, we know that this guy is unorthodox, but how unorthodox can he be? This was a fast yorker, looked like Pandey was going to miss it, suddenly the bat comes down from nowhere and it rolls towards long leg. India win the Indore ODI as well

Kane Richardson to Dhoni, 1 run, short delivery just outside off stump, Dhoni pulls to fine leg and the scores are level

Kane Richardson to M Pandey, 1 run, the low full toss is whipped away to deep square leg, Pandey was keen on the second run, but it was denied and the crowd roars in delight as Dhoni will be on strike for the next ball. Such is the popularity of the man. Chants of "We want six, we want six," circle around the ground

Kane Richardson to M Pandey, no run, short and outside off stump, Pandey mistimes the pull to mid-wicket

Kane Richardson to M Pandey, FOUR, smashed over the bowler's head and it's just bounced inside the long-off rope. Full delivery outside off stump, Pandey launches himself into the lofted shot and India are just one hit away

Kane Richardson [8.0-0-38-1] is back into the attack

Maxwell to Dhoni, no run, he's not going for it yet, lunges forward and drives it towards mid-on, a diving save from the man at mid-wicket

Maxwell to Dhoni, no run, another gentle flick shot straight to square leg

Maxwell to Dhoni, no run, the offie turning back in, Dhoni flicks to square leg

Maxwell to M Pandey, 1 run, shortish and on the stumps, Pandey goes back and glances it to fine leg