Australian team pose for a photo in the dressing room after reclaiming the Bordewr-Gavaskar trophy by defeating India 3-1 in Sydney.
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Late on Sunday night, Mitchell Starc and some of his teammates got into a sports utility vehicle and left the Sydney Cricket Ground. The celebrations in the Australian dressing room stretched long and spilled onto the turf. Some ambled near the ropes and a few went close to the pitch.

Reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade, the host has to thank the players who made this possible, and above all respect is owed to Pat Cummins. He bagged the wickets (25), scored vital runs (159), led well and Australia won by a 3-1 margin.

The Indians, meanwhile, had left the venue in the evening. They have enough to chew upon, grapple with and crease their foreheads. Commencing their tour with a 295-run victory in the first Test at Perth, the force was with them. The warm-up game against the Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra was pocketed too, before the campaign unravelled.

The Adelaide pink-ball Test was lost, and rain and the lower order secured a draw in Brisbane. And when R. Ashwin retired, the squad was in churn. The script turned morbid through a terrible last session and the Melbourne game was squandered. Finally at Sydney, even after snatching a four-run first innings lead, an inept second innings, despite Rishabh Pant’s fireworks, meant that Australia had an attainable target. An injured Jasprit Bumrah’s absence was a ghastly blow to India’s chances.

If one man had a large bearing on how India shaped up through this series, it was Bumrah, who also led in the first and fifth Test. His 32 wickets, till a back-spasm laid him low, meant that the Australian batters never felt they were fully settled at the crease. Every media interaction would involve a ‘Bumrah-question’ and the answers would range from shock to awe.

Among his support cast, Mohammed Siraj ran in all day. His effect may have varied but he has 20 wickets to show. The reality is if India capitulated eventually, a large share of the blame has to be apportioned to the batters. Skipper Rohit Sharma failed miserably, while Virat Kohli, after a ton at Perth, developed a fatal attraction around the off-stump. The former even skipped the last Test.

Meanwhile, with their bats, Yashasvi Jaiswal (391 runs), K.L. Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pant, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, had their moments. However, these were sporadic. A youngster like Shubman Gill going through a drought is also a cause for worry.

Coach Gautam Gambhir spoke about converting the 20s and 30s into big hundreds. However, this line-up seemingly lacks players, who can bat inexorably long. It was an attribute that Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Cheteshwar Pujara had. In all this talk about momentum, the fine-print about a draw being a honourable result was forgotten. If Melbourne was drawn, India would have reached Sydney at 1-1, and anything could have transpired.

Chairman Ajit Agarkar and his fellow selectors have to figure out the nucleus of the Test squad, starting with the England tour from June, later this year. After 2013, when India moved on from the Tendulkar era following his retirement, the present is another tipping point. There is no masking this grim truth, even if the glories secured in limited overs cricket, can be blinding at times.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney on January 5, 2025.
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A wide grin plastered on his face, Pat Cummins strode into the press-conference hall at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday (January 5, 2025). Looking at the just concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, the Australian captain said: “It is a huge win. I felt it was kind of see-sawing throughout the whole series, so to finish it at 3-1 and to hold the trophy is an amazing feeling.”

Reflecting on the last few months, Cummins said: “We grew up watching Test cricket, loving it, so to be right in the mix, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world for these couple of months.”

With Virat Kohli probably having played his last set of Tests in Australia, Cummins was quick to praise: “It has always been a wonderful contest (against him). More than just the runs that he brings to the game, it is also the debate he stirs, sometimes it can roil you as an opposition, which I am sure is part of his plans. It will be a shame if he doesn’t play any more Tests here.”

Asked about the turnaround after the loss in the first Test at Perth, Cummins said: “We always knew we had a good team. The message was to stay strong. To get the selections right.” The host skipper praised his team, especially key players like Scott Boland and debutant Beau Webster.

As for the imminent tour of Sri Lanka, Cummins hinted that he might skip as he is expecting his second child: “Becky’s (his wife) hanging on at the moment, so we will play it by ear. But I think, mostly I might struggle to get over there (Sri Lanka).”

Australia’s Pat Cummins being presented with the Border-Gavaskar trophy by Allan Border after winning the fifth Test in Sydney on January 5, 2025.
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Inside the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), children ran in that fumbling, happy way. The more adventurous ones did the odd somersault. Some of the Australian cricketers were lying sprawled on the grass, allowing all that ecstasy and relief to seep into them while their families hung around.

Beau Webster, with a lovely debut under his belt, stood close to the pitch and posed with his family for pictures. Pat Cummins and his men were in a happy space. And there was double joy to be savoured. Besides defeating India 3-1 to pocket the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia also sealed a berth in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s in June, later this year.

With South Africa having already qualified, the tussle for the second berth was between India and Australia. If the visitors had won at Sydney, then the subsequent series involving Australia and host Sri Lanka, would have had a bearing on the second finalist.

But with a favourable verdict in the fifth Test at the SCG, Cummins and his men will get to defend the title they won in the 2021-23 cycle. Australia has 63.73 percentage points now and is well ahead of India’s 50. Meanwhile, India, after having qualified twice for the WTC final and suffering losses to New Zealand and Australia respectively in those summit clashes, will miss the bus.

Reflecting on the spot in the WTC final, Cummins said: “It’s huge for us, we talk about the World Test Championship a lot. It’s a trophy we are really proud to hold so we want to go back and defend it. To play well consistently across different conditions and against different teams, yeah it’s great, can’t wait to get over there.”