Team India bounced back to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after being bowled out for 36 in Adelaide.
Furthermore, regular skipper Virat Kohli returned home on paternity leave after the first Test while a number of key players picked up injuries through the course of the series.
Despite the setbacks, the visiting team under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy bounced back brilliantly to register a 2-1 series victory with emphatic wins in Melbourne and Brisbane.
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Speaking to The Indian Express, India’s stand-in skipper Rahane recalled BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s message after the Adelaide debacle.
“After the Adelaide Test, Dada called me and said, ‘Just be strong. Believe in yourself, as an individual and as a team’. That was the message,” Rahane said.
After the Test series triumph in Australia, many former cricketers have suggested that Rahane should lead the national side in the longest format but the Mumbaikar is happy to play the role of Kohli’s deputy.
“We both are really close, really good friends. We just want to do well for our country. Let me tell you one thing. Virat is the captain now and I am the vice-captain, and whatever was happening before Virat left, it will just be the same. He is the captain and I am enjoying my role. (I am) happy to take a backseat now during the England series,” he remarked.
During the third Test in Sydney, cricket fraternity witnessed some ugly scenes as visiting pacers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, were subjected to racial abuse by the crowd on the second, third and fourth day.
In fact, play was halted for a few minutes after Siraj complained of racial abuse from a section of the crowd on the penultimate day, leading to expulsion of some spectators and an unreserved apology from Cricket Australia.
Condemning the infamous incident at SCG, Rahane said: “What happened in Sydney was very bad and not acceptable at all. When we go overseas, fans abuse opponents to cheer up the home team. But when people are abusing you based on the colour of your skin and hurling racial slurs, that are not acceptable. My message (to the authorities) was, those who racially abused the players, get them out of the ground. We will not leave the field. Until you are ejecting them, we are not playing."