IND VS AUS - 4th Test, Australia tour of India, 2023

Between Rohit Sharma's classic in the city of oranges to Virat's superfluous knock at Ahmedabad, there were a few captivating moments that magnified the glory of this keenly contested series. The rise of Murphy, the persistence of Lyon, the doggedness of Khawaja, the astuteness of Ashwin, the batting prowess of Axar, the sheer metronomy from Jadeja and the pristineness of Gill were a few other highlights of the series. Players like Labuschagne and Smith didn't leave much of a mark on the series. But knowledge wise have gone back richer. India have won this 2-1 but were made to work really hard for it as was the case back in 2017. So, India have ended their red ball campaign for this season. The next season post the IPL will begin with the WTC final in early days of June. These two will again cook a recipe for a masterclass. Till then our team of Kumar Abhisekh, Pradeep Krishnamurthy, MS Ramakrishnan and Siva bids you ta ta! But yeah just like the cameos from this series, the smooth coverage won't have been possible without Sagar Chawla, Nikhil JD and Akshay Maanay. Enough!

Deepu Narayanan with the Stats:

Player of the Series in Ind-Aus series in India since 2011
2013: R Ashwin (29 wkts, 20 runs)
2017: R Jadeja (25 wkts, 127 runs)
2023: R Ashwin (25 wkts, 86 runs) & R Jadeja (22 wkts, 135 runs)

-- Only 21 wickets fell in this Test - the fewest in a Test in India since the Ahmedabad Test against Sri Lanka in 2009 (excluding weather affected Tests)

Last four Border-Gavaskar trophy series
2016/17, India: India won 2-1
2018/19, Australia: India won 2-1
2020/21, Australia: India won 2-1
2022/23, India: India won 2-1
This is the first instance of a side winning four successive BGT series.

-- Only the second time in 30 Test series he has been part of, Smith has failed to register a half century. The other coming against Pakistan at home in 2019/20 (2 innings).

-- Only the second time in 22 Tests in India since 2018 has ended in a draw, the other being against NZ in Kanpur.

Rohit Sharma: Was a fantastic series. Right from the word go, how exciting it was. Lot of the players are playing this for the first time. We do understand the importance of this series and the opposition. Lot of hard work has gone into this. At different times we have come up with answers. We knew how important it was to start the series well. The Delhi Test, I am very proud of. We were behind in the game. At Indore, we were put under pressure and lost the game. Different players put their hands up. Lot of guys took up the responsibility and bailed us out. Test Cricket is hard fought cricket and isn't easy. I am quite satisfied. I know what kind of benchmark I have set for myself. I keep the personal milestones aside. We have got the result from what I wanted from the series. To get the result makes us very happy.

Ravichandran Ashwin: It has been a great journey. We (himself and Jadeja) started a long time ago but we wouldn't be the same or lethal enough without the other. We need to recognise that, at least I have started recognising that over the last 2-3 years. He gives me a lot of freedom to be creative with the ball, credit to him, I thought he bowled beautifully in the Delhi Test as well and that's why we are here today. Jaddu keeps it really simple, he does not fret around or bother about what has happened, but I saw him sit in one place for an hour after he got out, so that told me how disappointed he was and that came out today. The conversations have been a lot more in the last 2-3 years because I know how to communicate and what are his likes, his dislikes and even knowing what will help him. Even he has adapted beautifully to the chop and change, during the series when Head was going, Khawaja was playing, we had a lot of good conversations and some of them ended up with wickets and some of them are quite funny.

Ravindra Jadeja: It feels good bowling with him. He (Ashwin) is passing on information. What field to have, how to bowl to a particular batsman. I am not too happy with my batting in this series. I missed out on a few occasions especially in this Test. I will work harder and focus on my batting. He is more of everything. He has a good cricketing brain. He knows every team in the world and every series that is being played.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Men of the Series:

Virat Kohli, Player of the Match: To be honest, the expectations I have from myself as a player is more to important to me. I felt I was batting well from the first innings at Nagpur. We focused on batting for long. I did that to an extent but not to the capability that I have done in the past. Was a little disappointed for that. Relief from the point of view that I could play the way I wanted to play. I was happy with my defence. I am not in a space now where I will go out and prove someone wrong. I also need to justify why I am there on the field. When I was 60 not out, we decided to play positively. But we lost Shreyas to injury and were a batter short. So, we decided to play time. They were good with the ball and placed some good fields. We got a bit of a lead and gave ourselves some sort of a chance.

Steve Smith: Did end slowly. Was a pretty flat at the back end. The boys had a great time. The hospitality has been amazing. The crowd has been amazing. We started to play better as the series went on. The madness in one hour in Delhi cost us that game. The wicket here was too flat for us to force a result. The spinners bowled really well. Murphy and Kuhnemann bowled with composure. Lyon bowled his best in the first innings here, the best I have seen him bowl. I am getting a bit old (on asked if he will be touring India in four years time).

Rahul Dravid: It was a hard fought series. There were moments where we were put under extreme pressure and we managed to respond. Rohit led the way with the hundred in the first Test, capped off by the big one by Virat here. In the middle we had Jadeja, Axar, Shubman, probably missed a few. We needed to find people to respond and we found that. To be able to compete and get the better of them is a proud achievement. It's been an exciting 4-5 months for Shubman. Exciting to see a young player coming in and maturing. Great sign for us, long may it continue. Lovely kid, works hard on his skill. Great exposure for him to learn from the likes of Virat, Rohit and even Steve Smith. We did have an eye on the New Zealand-Sri Lanka game. It was lunch time for us, so were following. They (Aussie spinners) have been exceptional, led by Nathan Lyon. He has been brilliant for Australia for many years but right through the series he was exceptional, the kind of pressure and control he gave Cummins and Smith was outstanding. Both young spinners (Kuhnemann and Murphy) gave him that kind of support. Lot of times we have seen overseas teams have only one good spinner and the others leak runs, but credit to the two young spinners, they maintained that pressure and picked wickets. Lot of the guys were saying that for the quality of spin they had to play which made the series win all the more sweeter. Some of the guys were saying since Panesar and Swann, they have probably not played over the last decade, couple of spinners of this kind of quality or this quality of spells, they have played individual spinners who have been great over the years but to have a quality spin attack I think it is the best in the last 10 years. We just qualified for it at lunch time today, we will think about it (WTC final) and plan for it, but first we will celebrate this victory.

Shubman Gill: Lyon is always on his mark. He tests your patience. The first session on day 3 was quite challenging for me and Rohit bhai when he was bowling. He doesn't give a lot to the batter as he is consistently bowling outside off-stump.

Nathan Lyon: It has been a tough challenge. Obviously coming over here, in India, we know it is going to be tough but it has been rewarding, our group can take a lot out of it. There are some areas we can improve but there are some proud moments along the way. Totally different surface, didn't really have much in it and it was pretty hard work to bowl out here. It can be quite challenging but it is up to us as bowlers to try and get the guys caught in the crease and make them play false shots. Totally different to the first three pitches, lot compacted and not many footmarks. We were watching the score (NZ-SL game) but we kinda knew we were going to face India in the final. It is going to be pretty exciting, we have got a really good lead up into it, a bit of time off and then some preparation, but looking forward to it. I feel I have been able to play a big role in the start of their (Murphy and Kuhnemann) Test journey, I know Matty is keen to have a word with Jadeja tonight, they should head home pretty proud on what they have achieved, it is no easy feat to bowl against the best players of spin.

Ahmedabad Test:
- Australia elect to bat on the best batting deck of the series.
- Usman Khawaja, once again, leads the batting charts. Compiles a ton on day 1
- More attritional cricket on day 2 and Green scores a ton as well. Australia finish with 480.
- Gill leads India's reply. His finely crafted ton on day 3 ensures India stays afloat
- Virat scores a ton and India take a 91-run lead.
- With an eye on the NZ-SL Test, Indian bowlers failed to pierce into the Australian batting attack on day 5 and settle for a draw. But NZ hand India the ticket to WTC 2023 final as they squeeze a thrilling win at Christchurch.

Indore Test:
- India won the toss hoping to put up a good score
- But Queensland's Jadeja - Matt Kuhnemann - got a fifer to skittle India out for 109.
- Khawaja once again shone with the bat as the wicket was deemed as a bunsen burner.
- Australia collapsed early on Day 2. India had a deficit of 88. But then the Lyon roared.
- The GOAT picked up an 8-fer. India only had 75 runs to play with despite a great fight from Pujara.
- Head and Labuschagne completed the formalities on day 3.
- A WTC final ticket was still at bay for the Indians!

Mid-series break:
- Warner was ruled out of the series with a fractured elbow.
- Agar was released from the squad.
- Hazlewood sidelined with injury and Cummins had to fly back for personal reasons.
- Steve Waugh's famous words - the final frontier - were making sense now.
- Australia were left with a mountain to climb. The oxygen reserves were almost nil.
- Smith was handed captaincy and that's when the tables turned.

Delhi Test:
- Pujara's 100th Test! Accolades pour in
- Australia fail to rain on Pujara's parade as the 'Lindsay Lowhands' formula failed.
- Australia finished on 263, Khawaja top-scores with 81.
- India slip early, but Axar leads the rearguard action once again
- India finish one run short
- Head is promoted up the order and Australia start on a brisk note
- But Day 3 sees Australia losing 9 wickets for 48 as Jadeja works his magic again
- India stutter a little but win by 6 wickets. BGT stays with India.