After 10 years, Australia has regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to dash the hopes of Indians who arrived in the country with the dream of winning their third consecutive Test series. All eyes were on Australia vs India 5th Test (SCG Test), the decisive game for the World Test Championship 2025 Final qualification, where the host won comfortably in under 3 days.

For the first time in a decade, Australia beat India in a Test match series, and with it…

They regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy! pic.twitter.com/N4qZpkeADz

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 5, 2025

India lost the series 3-1, and they were also knocked out of the World Test Championship final 2025 race. It was an eye-opener for most batters, who failed to absorb pressure under tough circumstances.

SCG Test：AUS vs IND Match Highlights

The highly anticipated 5-match Test series between Australia vs India ended with hosts Australia winning the series 3-1 to regain the Border Gavaskar Trophy after 10 years. Australia vs India 5th Test at SCG spanned under 3 days as Australia thumped India by 6 wickets to enter the World Test Championship 2025 Final. It was a sweet revenge taken by the Aussies, who had lost the previous two Test series at home against India with an identical 2-1 margin.

Scott Boland’s Powerful Bowling

Veteran pacer, Scott Boland, who came in as a replacement mid-way of the series for injured Josh Hazlewood, emerged as the Player of the Match in the Australia vs India 5th Test for his stupendous bowling display, where he returned with the match figures of 10 for 76 and finished the series with a tally of 21 wickets in 3 matches, 2nd best among the Aussie pacers.

India’s Batting Woes

Aussies took advantage of the depleted Indian pace attack in the 4th innings of SCG Test, who were without their skipper Jasprit Bumrah. It was just a matter of time for the hosts, who took only 27 overs to achieve a 162-run target. Openers Sam Konstas and Usman Khawaja gave a rapid start with a 39-run stand, while it was Travis Head (34*) and Beau Webster (39*) got the job done with the finishing touches at the end. It was a dream debut for Webster, who scored a half-century (57) in the 1st essay.

Aussie Spot in World Test Championship Final 2025

It was a clear statement from the Australians to win by a 3-1 margin, after losing the 1st Test at Perth by 295 runs. Australia has booked their ticket for the World Test Championship 2025 final which is scheduled at Lord’s in June against South Africa. Their 2nd consecutive world test championship final, after beating India in the 2023 final which was held at The Oval, London. Interestingly, they have made it to the World Test Championship 2025 final with a couple of Test matches left.

Aussie Captain Replacement

For their final assignment of the WTC 2023-25 cycle, they will travel to Sri Lanka to take part in the 2-match Test series, which starts at the end of this month. Pat Cummins will miss the tour due to the birth of his second child and he subsequently undergoes scans on his sore ankle. Steven Smith will replace Pat Cummins as the skipper.

Jasprit Bumrah：India’s One Man Army

India’s chances of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy were dashed completely as their batters failed to meet the expectations on most occasions. The visitors need a win at the SCG Test to secure a spot in the world test championship final 2025 and had pinned their hopes on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah but unfortunately, they were gutted as the stand-in skipper, didn’t make it to the ground for the 4th innings of the Australia vs India 5th Test after enduring a back spasm. His presence would have changed the complexion of the game towards India on the spicy SCG Test surface, which was later given a rating of ‘Satisfactory’ by the ICC.

Hopes Were Dashed

Jasprit Bumrah single-handedly kept India in the tour down under alive and was adjudged the Player of the Series for his stellar bowling display. He finished the series as the leading wicket-taker with a tally of 32 scalps in 5 matches at an average of 13.06. He had picked up 3 five-wicket haul in the series, most among the bowlers. Bumrah’s workload was questioned at the end of the series, who had bowled 151.2, fourth best in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25. Pat Cummins (167), Mohammed Siraj (157.1), Mitchell Starc (153.2) were in the top 3 list.

Indian Fans Erupted in Anger

The fans couldn’t control their emotions, following India’s loss at the SCG, and slammed newly appointed coach Gautam Gambhir. Under his tenure, India had lost the home Test series after 12 years with a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand. With a 3-1 loss to Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, India is now eliminated from the World Test Championship 2025 final race, which is the first time they failed to make it to the summit clash, after going down against New Zealand and Australia in the last 2 editions.

India vs Australia
Were we playing gulli danda, what a horrible batting performance by India..
4 wkts fell in less than an hour.
157 all out in 2nd Innings on the third day Morning

— SAMARJEET NARAYAN (@samarjeet_n) January 5, 2025

Many expressed that it was better before Gautam Gambhir, and the BCCI must sack him before things get ugly. Hard-core fans are particularly severe on ace batter Virat Kohli, who had a horror run in the series and could collect only 190 runs in 9 innings. All of his 8 dismissals were nicked either to the keeper or through the slip region.

India’s batters just didn’t score enough runs to challenge Australia and so 3-1 is a fair result. Lots of issues to resolve. The form of the senior batters, the over-reliance on Bumrah……

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 5, 2025

The fans slammed him for getting dismissed similarly and went one step ahead, saying Kohli, you are done. They couldn’t hold on when Rohit Sharma threw his wickets away and not showing the temperament required at this level. Rohit opted himself out of the Australia vs India 5th Test after bagging consecutive failures, making just 31 runs in 5 innings.

Team India looking for WTC mace pic.twitter.com/KVb6tDh5D9

— Sagar (@sagarcasm) January 5, 2025

It’s a tough pill to swallow for the Indians who had huge expectations of doing well on Australian soil. Lack of preparation, big guns’ failure with the bat, and over-dependency on Jasprit Bumrah are the main reasons for their downfall. With this series, India’s world test championship final 2025 race comes to an end and their next Test assignment will be in England in June.

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