India Crush Australia By 8 Wickets, Win Series

India won the Fourth Test and the series in style on the fourth day by 8 wickets at Dharamshala making it a special Gudi Padwa day for stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane.

India today won the fourth test and the series in style on the fourth day at Dharamshala by a convincing 8 wickets.  India thus lifted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

To be fair, the Aussies gave India a tough fight. Commentators and analysts had predicted an Aussie rout, but the visitors gave India a shock in the first test itself. They fought the remaining tests in full vigour.

Today, with 87 runs needed to win and despite losing two quick wickets, India completely dominated the Aussie bowlers and won the match with 8 wickets to spare. Ajinkya Rahane on 38, Rahul on 51 remained not out at the end to ensure the victory.

For stand-in Captain Ajinkya Rahane, the victory was sweet as it came on Gudi Padwa, a major festival in Maharashtra, his home state.

Indian openers started Day 4 aggressively. KL Rahul looked solid once again. The panic came when India lost both Vijay and Pujara’s wickets quickly. But Captain Rahane came out and smashed the Australia bowlers. He score 38 of just 24 balls and at the other end Rahul completed yet another half century.

Ravindra Jadeja was declared Man of the Match and also the Man of the Series for his outstanding all round performance.

Team India completely dominated the fourth test and fourth day to seal the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This series win also ensured that India finish the home series on a high note.

The battle between the World no.1 and no.2 kick started aggressively. With Australia winning the first test and then things got really heated up. Kohli’s team came back strongly and won the second test and the third ended up in a draw. India entered the last test without Virat Kohli as he was injured.

Bowling out Australia for 300 in the first innings of the fourth test and getting the marginal 32 runs lead gave India the initial advantage.

The game turned on its head when Indian bowlers came out aggressively in the second innings and bowled Aussies out for just 137. India then ended up Day 3 at 20 without losing wickets.

The series was also marked by off-field banter that occasionally turned ugly. And to add fuel to fire, a senseless Australian media compared Kohli to an animal and even to US President Donald Trump. Ultimately, Kohli showed animal instincts in making a meat of the Aussies.