A MSD special as India put up a professional performance against Australia
The T20 series between India and Australia ended in a 1-1 draw and then India won the Test series comprehensively 2-1. The ODI series ended today with India winning the match and the series 2-1 as well.
The stage was set for a thrilling end to the India tour of Australia 2018-19 but it was all India in the final ODI where they first restricted the Aussies to 230-10 in 48.4 overs and then chased down the total with 7 wickets remaining in the final over of the match.
It was a MS Dhoni special in the series decider where he scored 87 off 114 balls with the help of 6 boundaries. He was awarded the Man of the Series for his third fifty on the trot. India was 113-3 at one point in time but it was an MS-Kedar show which helped India seal the series.
After being reported for a suspect action and also the twin failures against Australia, Ambati Rayudu was dropped out from playing XI in the third match against Australia. Rayudu made 0 and 24 runs respectively in the first two matches and looked uncertain at the number 4 position. Kedar Jadhav, who has been sitting out all this while was included in the playing XI and scored 61 runs off 57 balls with the help of 7 fours in a 121-run stand with MS Dhoni.
Captain Kohli made three changes in the lineup for the third and the last match of the tour. Besides Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Vijay Shankar were added to the XI in place of Kuldeep Yadav and Mohd. Siraj. All the three changes came off with Kedar scoring a fifty and Yuzvendra Chahal picking up 6 wickets. Chahal was also awarded the Man of the Match for the match-winning performance. Debutant Vijay Shankar bowled an economical spell and played his part in the win.
With this, India's historic tour of Australia comes to an end. Team India was truly professional in whatever they did on the tour. They delivered everything that was asked of them, first levelling the T20 series and then becoming the first Asian team to defeat Australia in a test series at their home. Bagging the ODI series was icing on the cake.
This performance is going to be remembered for a long time now.