BCCI congratulates Indian cricket team for series win in Australia

The former left-handed batsman missed the fifth and final ODI with India as well as the whole of the T20I series.

Kohli reached his 50 before being removed in unusual circumstances four balls later when Boyce collected a bottom edge and it rolled onto the stumps.

India’s bowling frailties were laid bare in the one-day series in Australia where their inability to defend scores around 300 in the first three ODIs cost them the five-match series.

Suresh Raina slammed an unbeaten 49 to give India a thrilling last-ball win to help them achieve a 3-0 whitewash.

The legspinner also dismissed Kohli for a 36-ball 50, his third consecutive half-century in the series.

The much-maligned Watson led from the front for Australia in a masterful solo performance. Needing two runs off the last ball, Raina hit the winning shot for a boundary.

While India fielded a stable unchanged side for all the three encounters, Australia, on the other hand, experimented a lot with their squad.

“It’s all about execution, if you execute well, irrespective of a fast bowler or spinner, the captain will look good, the players will look good”.

Earlier, Australia made 197-5 in their stipulated 20 overs, thanks to stand-in captain Shane Watson, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his inspiring 124-run knock off mere 71 deliveries.

And India, who lifted the trophy in the inaugural World T20 in 2007, will be among the favourites to claim a second title with home advantage in their favour in this year’s competition, which begins in March.

The series has been one-sided so far and team India has outplayed the mighty Australians in the shortest format of the game.

Such was Watson’s dominance that the next best score was 26 from Travis Head.

The visitors started off with a big win in the first T20 global at Adelaide and followed up with another crushing win at Melbourne in Friday’s contest.

Watson also benefitted from India’s generosity. He put on 53 runs for the 2nd wicket with Marsh off only 27 balls, even as Ashwin bowled the left-hander in the 8th over.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is highly impressed with young Gujarat pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who has given the Australian batsmen hard time during the limited overs series in Australia that concluded on Sunday.