India vs Australia 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 4th Test: Hosts Clinch The Series With A Quick Chase

India vs Australia 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 4th Test ended with the host reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and India has now won their last Test series against all test playing countries. On the 4th day, Ajinkya Rahane (38*) provided the drama while KL Rahul played with common sense, leading India to a win by 8 wickets and clinching the series by 2-1.

Authoritative in his strokes and tight in his defense, KL Rahul (51*) ended the series with yet another 50, his seventh in this series finally gave an answer to India’s opening worries. Australia, on the other hand, was competitive throughout this series, more often than not remained ahead of the game but finally ran out of gas on the third day at 137 runs and paid for it on the fourth.

Which, when we think of it, is what pretty much defines this format. Two evenly matched teams who are old rivals and whenever they clash, firecrackers are certain. The same happened in this series as well. Runs were made, scorecards were flooded, bowlers dominance was the talk of the town but Batsmen too had their moments to strike, words were exchanged, controversies were made and finally it all have ended.

What a great comeback it has been for India after losing the first test, they went on to dominate the second and draw the third, leaving the series hanging in balance before the first test.

From the Brain Fade to Kohli’s injury to his comparison with Donald Trump, Aussies, as expected, opted for sledging throughout the series but it were the Men In Blue, who came out victorious with the help of the tools of trade rather than the words.

Ravindra Jadeja has been named as the Man Of The Match, and rightly so, is the Man Of The Hour. With 25 wickets and 127 runs under his belt, he has dominated the strip from both sides and has emerged as the best all rounder for the Indian side.

Sir Jadeja’s discipline and extraordinary strokes have left us with several moments to sit back and savor, and until the next season and Champions Trophy, we can live in these memories.

The Numbers

• KL Rahul has scored six consecutive fifties in this series without a hundred.

• This is the fourth time that a team holds all the Test trophies against the 9 Test playing nations. Australia has done it twice (Oct 2004-Sep 2005 and Dec 2006-Nov 2008), South Africa achieved this feat in Dec 2012-Mar 2014 and now India holds the record.
• This is the fourth time that India has won a series after losing the first Test.
  v England, 1972 (Home)
  v Australia, 2001 (Home)
  v Sri Lanka, 2015 (Away)
  v Australia, 2017 (Home)

• Ajinkya Rahane became the ninth Indian captain to win his first Test Match.
• This is the 26th win for India against Australia, the most for them against any team.
• This is India’s 7th successive series win. Only England (1884-92) & Australia (2005-08) have better records with 9 consecutive series win each.
• Indian pace bowlers took 67 wickets (6 players) in the 2016/17 Test season with a strike rate of 68.8. While, on the other hand, combined wickets taken by New Zealand, England, Bangladesh Australia pace bowlers (20 players) amounts to 70 at a strike rate of SR-83.0.

As expected, Twitter exploded after India clinched the series against Australia by 2-1 and some even trolled the visitors as they will head back home with their shoulders hanging in shame.

What fans had to say on the series win