India vs Australia 2020: Men in Blue prove their character in remarkable comeback
At the dawn of 2020, India coach Ravi Shastri had said that 2019 had been one of the best years for Indian cricket. Some fans might have been incredulous, after all, India's biggest target, that of winning the 50-over World Cup, was not achieved.
But Shastri was on to something, clearly, the current batch under Virat Kohli are a special team that have consistently performed at an elite level in all forms of the game to be counted as possibly the best squad of cricketers in the world at the moment.
Thus, when at the start of the new year, one of their biggest challengers Australia came over to the country for a mini ODI-series, it had more spice than the run-of-the-mill bilateral series that make up the overcrowded ICC calendar nowadays.
For Kohli's wards it was a challenge to establish their credentials as the team to beat. Alongside England, the current world champs, these two form the holy triumvirate that dominate the sport right now. India were also licking their wounds from a 3-2 defeat to the same side just before the Cup on home soil. Make no mistake, the mini series mattered.
So, when Australia, led by a razor-sharp pace attack and some dazzling strokeplay by top guns David Warner and Aaron Finch, won the opener by 10 wickets in Mumbai, India's reputation was on the line in more ways than one.
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When the going gets tough...
That is when this team proved their special nature in unequivocal fashion. First, a scintillating win at Rajkot was brought up thanks to India's mighty batting prowess flourishing in all its glory and the bowlers doing a stupendous job in reducing Steve Smith and co. after they threatened to chase down a huge total.
Then came the series clincher in Bangalore that showed India playing to its full potential. This was truly an all-round performance at the hour of greatest need. From Virat Kohli's magnificent catch to send back Marnus Labuschagne to Mohammed Shami's inch-perfect yorkers to Rohit and Kohli's masterful control of a tricky chase, India's 7-wicket win was a testament to their mental toughness.
What stood out
India were not afraid to take brave decisions even when 1-0 down in a three-match series. KL Rahul was a revelation as a wicket-keeper batsman and helped Kohli get the team composition right after a disastrous opener. They were also not afraid to rectify mistakes, Kohli returned to three after a failed experiment. Shreyas Iyer's form also added more meat to a formidable Indian batting order that sorely lacked a no.4 in the World Cup and seemed overly reliant on the top three. Virat and Rohit again proved they are two of the best in the business in this prestige series.
Finally, India's pacers and the canny allrounder Ravindra Jadeja complete a formidable limited overs team. The big challenge for the side this year will be the T20 World Cup, expect most of these guys to be there.