[Watch] Flashback to when Team India celebrated becoming first ever Asian side to win Test series in Australia
On this day in 2019, Team India achieved one of their best results by becoming the first Asian side to triumph in a Test series in Australia. Led by the effervescent Virat Kohli, they made a resounding statement to world cricket by completing a 2-1 series win in the four-match Test series.
The series began with a humdinger in Adelaide, where the Indians scratched to a 31-run victory. However, the Aussies hit back with a commanding 146-run win in Perth to level the series at one apiece.
With the result hanging in the balance, India produced a brilliant performance in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, winning by 137 runs to take a 2-1 lead. They were on course for another dominant win in the final game in Sydney when the rain-marred Test ended in a draw.
Nevertheless, India emerged victorious 2-1 and finally conquered their mission of winning a Test series down under. After the win, the players displayed raw emotions, dancing and celebrating wildly.
Here are some of the scenes after India overhauled the Aussie juggernaut in their den:
Despite all-round contributions from several players, Cheteshwar Pujara stood out with his inimitable batting.
The dogged batter finished as the leading run-scorer with 521 runs at an average of 74.43, including three centuries and a half-century. 2018 was also Jasprit Bumrah's first year in Tests, and the ace pacer was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 21 scalps at an average of 17.
Team India made it back-to-back Test series wins in Australia in 2020-21
In sports, winning anything once can be a fluke, but repeating the feat proves the mettle of a champion side. India did just that by winning a Test series for a second consecutive time in Australia in 2020-21.
While there was a mental asterisk behind their series win in 2018-19 due to the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith, the Asian giants left no doubts about their prowess in the subsequent series down under.
India was shot out for an embarrassing 36 in their second innings to lose the opening Test in Adelaide by eight wickets. With their talismanic skipper, Virat Kohli headed home and the side hit by several injuries, India scripted one of the most remarkable turnarounds in cricket history.
Led by a magnificent century from Ajinkya Rahane, India stunned the hosts by winning the second Test in Melbourne by eight wickets to level the series. A hard-fought draw in the third Test in Sydney set up the series decider at Australia's fortress, the Gabba in Brisbane.
Yet, defying all odds, India pulled off an improbable win by chasing 329 in the final innings with three wickets in hand. Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rishabh Pant performed heroic feats with the bat to stun Australia and cap off a historic series win for India.