Fittest, unstoppable and consistency personified – India's history-making cricket team was showered with gushing praise by former players, with batting great Sunil Gavaskar slamming criticism that the triumph came against a weakened Australian team.
India won the four-match series 2-1 after the Sydney Test ended in a rain-forced draw, their first ever Test series triumph on Australian soil. What the weather could not hide was Australia's poor performance with both bat and ball through the four matches.
It was attributed to batting mainstays David Warner and Steve Smith's one-year ban on ball tampering charges, but Gavaskar rejected the assertion.
"India played the opposition they were presented with and it's a great achievement for them," the former captain.
According to Gavaskar what separates Kohli's men from earlier teams is their world class fitness standards.
Opting to bat first in the fourth and final Test, India took a commanding position as Cheteshwar Pujara scored a solid 193 and stumper Rishabh Pant also added an unbeaten to guid India to a massive 622/7 in their first innings.
India then rode on chinaman Kuldeep Yadav's fifer to bundle out the home side on 300 runs before enforcing a follow-on. Australia were six for no loss in their second innings when constant rain ensured no more play was possible and the match was adjudged a draw.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)