India defeated Australia by three wicket in the fourth and final Test at the Gabba in Brisbane to win the series 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
There were a number of fine performances by players from both teams right through the series, with Ajinkya Rahane and his men showing nerves of steel to complete a remarkable turnaround and claim the trophy.
For India, there were a number of injury setbacks but that didn’t deter them from fighting right till the end. They used a total of 20 players in the series. Before this, no touring team had won a Test series using more than 16 players.
Series batting stats
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) January 19, 2021
Run Rate
🇦🇺 3.05
🇮🇳 2.79
Balls Per Wicket
🇮🇳 65.3
🇦🇺 57.5
India scored more slowly than Australia but kept them in the field 13 overs longer each innings. In a four match series crammed into four weeks this took its toll on Australia's attack.#AUSvIND
Despite having the two highest run-scorers and wicket-takers in the series, Australia couldn’t stop India from retaining the trophy.
Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara were the two highest run-scorers for India in the four-match series. In the bowling department, it was Mohammed Siraj, playing his very first Test series, and Ashwin Ravichandran leading the chart.
Australia, on the other hand, rode on the right-handed duo of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith when it came to the batting. And with the ball, it was Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood who led the way for the hosts.
Here are the top run-scorers and wicket-takers for both India and Australia in the 2020-’21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy:
Highest run-scorers for India
| Player | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pant | 5 | 1 | 274 | 97 | 68.50 | 392 | 69.89 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 4 |
| Pujara | 8 | 0 | 271 | 77 | 33.87 | 928 | 29.20 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 0 |
| Rahane | 8 | 1 | 268 | 112 | 38.28 | 562 | 47.68 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| Gill | 6 | 1 | 259 | 91 | 51.80 | 427 | 60.65 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 2 |
| Rohit | 4 | 0 | 129 | 52 | 32.25 | 270 | 47.77 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
Highest run-scorers for Australia
| Player | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labuschagne | 8 | 0 | 426 | 108 | 53.25 | 850 | 50.11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| Smith | 8 | 1 | 313 | 131 | 44.71 | 612 | 51.14 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 36 | 1 |
| Green | 7 | 0 | 236 | 84 | 33.71 | 580 | 40.68 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 4 |
| Paine | 7 | 2 | 204 | 73* | 40.80 | 349 | 58.45 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| Wade | 8 | 0 | 173 | 45 | 21.62 | 397 | 43.57 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 0 |
Highest wicket-takers for India
| Player | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siraj | 6 | 134.2 | 32 | 384 | 13 | 5/73 | 6/150 | 29.53 | 2.85 | 62.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ashwin | 6 | 134.1 | 19 | 346 | 12 | 4/55 | 5/71 | 28.83 | 2.57 | 67.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bumrah | 6 | 117.4 | 29 | 323 | 11 | 4/56 | 6/110 | 29.36 | 2.74 | 64.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jadeja | 3 | 37.3 | 9 | 105 | 7 | 4/62 | 4/62 | 15.00 | 2.80 | 32.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Thakur | 2 | 43.0 | 8 | 155 | 7 | 4/61 | 7/155 | 22.14 | 3.60 | 36.8 | 0 | 0 |
Highest wicket-takers for Australia
| Player | Inns | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cummins | 8 | 162.1 | 51 | 421 | 21 | 4/21 | 7/69 | 20.04 | 2.59 | 46.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Hazlewood | 8 | 144.4 | 49 | 329 | 17 | 5/8 | 6/55 | 19.35 | 2.27 | 51.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Starc | 8 | 137.0 | 29 | 448 | 11 | 4/53 | 4/60 | 40.72 | 3.27 | 74.7 | 0 | 0 |
| Lyon | 7 | 187.0 | 47 | 496 | 9 | 3/72 | 3/77 | 55.11 | 2.65 | 124.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Labuschagne | 6 | 11.0 | 3 | 36 | 0 | - | - | - | 3.27 | - | 0 | 0 |
| Green | 6 | 44.0 | 7 | 118 | 0 | - | - | - | 2.68 | - | 0 | 0 |
(All tables courtesy ESPNcricinfo)
