‘After 10 years’: Australia crushes India, reclaims Border-Gavaskar Test Trophy with a 3-1 win

Australia ended India’s decade-long dominance of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a six-wicket victory in the final Test in Sydney to claim the series 3-1. The victory marked Australia’s first series victory over India in ten years and secured their place in the World Test Championship ( WTC) in the final against South Africa at Lord’s in June.

Chasing 162 for victory, Usman Khawaja anchored the innings with a steady top of 41 before Travis Head (34*) and debutant Bo Webster (39*) saw Australia home in just 27 overs.Prasid Krishna (3/65) and Mohammed Siraj (1/69) took India’s wickets but failed keep the pressure on which was an easy chase for the hosts.

Earlier India were bundled out for just 157 runs in their second innings. Rishabh Pant’s valiant 61 was the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing batting display. Scott Boland produced an impressive spell claiming 6/45 and captain Pat Cummins 3/ 44 added to India.Reflecting on his speech, Boland said: “It’s been a long time since I won 3-1 against India. I’m happy to play when I can and the last few weeks have been great.”

Jasprit Bumrah, adjudged Man of the Series for his remarkable 32 wickets, was unable to bowl in the final innings due to back spasms, leaving a glaring gap in India’s attack. “It’s a bit disappointing, but sometimes you have to respect your body. It was a hard fought series and even though we didn’t win, the lads got a lot of experience.”

Australian captain Pat Cummins hailed his team’s efforts, saying: “Unreal. Not many of us had this trophy. It took us a long time to beat India. This will go down as one of my favorite Test series.”

The loss dashed India’s hopes of making the WTC finals as they finished third with 50.00 pct.The loss also exposed India’s over-reliance on Bumrah and their facing weaknesses, raising questions about the team’s future strategy.