Brisbane: An injury-hit India pulled off more than a V-shaped recovery feat as they beat Australia here in the fourth Test on Tuesday to win the series 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The victory at the Gabba, where no visiting team has beaten Australia since 1988, came after the debacle in Adelaide, where India were dismissed for their lowest Test score of 36.
India which resumed at 4 for no loss on the final day of the Gabba Test, slammed the winning runs with 18 balls to spare.
The team chased down 328 runs in the final Test to end Australia’s 32-year unbeaten run at the Gabba.
Rishabh Pant led from the front with an aggressive, unbeaten 89, while Shubman Gill hit 91 runs.
But it was Cheteshwar Pujara who stood like a rock and endured painful blows during his 211-ball, 56 runs innings.
India lost vice-captain Rohit Sharma for 7 runs, but Gill kept India in the reckoning while Pujara stayed cemented at the crease.
Pant hit the winning boundary after a three-hour innings in a fitting finale to the action-packed series.
The tourists had lost the ODI cricket series before winning the T20 tournament that preceded the Tests.
Australia won the Adelaide Test while India struck back at Melbourne. The third Test in Sydney ended in a draw.
The series was tied 1-1 ahead of the fourth Test and India only needed a draw to retain the trophy.
But the spirited squad had other plans and went on to post the highest successful fourth-innings chase in a test at the Gabba.
Meanwhile, the stunning series victory has catapulted India to the second place of ICC World Test Championship pecking order.
India is now ahead of New Zealand and Australia on the ranks table.
England and South Africa are at the fourth and fifth spots respectively in the standings, updated after the fourth Test at the Gabba here.
The BCCI also announced a ₹5 crore bonus for the team after the Ajinkya Rahane-led squad clinched the series 2-1.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah tweeted to make the announcement of the bonus.
Photo courtesy: Rae Allen from Brisbane, Australia