 "While Jasprit Bumrah was Team India's silver lining against Australia, Rohit Sharma had a series to forget. AP")
Australia regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade as they defeated India 3-1 in their recently-concluded five-match Test series at home . Australia were set a target of 162 on Day three of the fifth Test in Sydney after India were all out for 157 in their second innings.
IND vs AUS | Rohit and Kohli’s form doesn’t matter; all Australians care about is the Test series win over India
Usman Khawaja (41), Travis Head (34*) and debutant Beau Webster (39*) were the orchestrators of the Aussies’ six-wicket victory. The win also meant that Australia qualified for the final of the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC), where they will play South Africa at Lord’s in June.
How Australian media reacted to the Aussies’ Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph
The Australian media were full of praise for their men’s team winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Sydney Morning Herald, a Sydney-based newspaper, hailed the team’s “emphatic and clinical victory”.
“Australia responded in emphatic and clinical fashion, going on to win three of the next four matches and consigning India to back-to-back series defeats for the first time since 2014,” wrote the newspaper, noting how Australia went onto win the series after going 0-1 down.
News.com.au noted how Virat Kohli’s “sandpaper gesture” did not stop the Aussies from clinching series victory. “Sam Konstas and Marnus Labuschagne threw their wickets away with baffling shots before Steve Smith fell on 9,999 career runs with an edge to slips.
“Virat Kohli then elected to fire up the crowd with a bizarre sandpaper gesture, the act raised eyebrows but it didn’t do anything to stop the Aussies,” the website said.
The Weekend Australian said that while Australia have some “cult heroes” to thank for their victory, India could have been better had some of their heroes stayed back home. “Australia has reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy – and have cult heroes to thank for it. Meanwhile, India might have been better off if some of theirs had stayed at home,” stated the article.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe Courier Mail was critical of Virat Kohli’s gesture during the Sydney Test. “Playing in what is almost certainly his last Test on these shores, Virat Kohli stuck the boot into Australia with one last act of pantomime villainy,” the article said.