India's victorious Test players arrived back at their homes after achieving historic victory against the Australian side on their home soil by 2-1
Team India's stars returned to their homes amidst celebrations and festivities after beating Australia 2-1 in one of the greates ever Test victories ever. Deflated Indian side, without their regular skipper Virat Kohli, all of their first-choice bowling attack, had many inexperienced and new players to thank, who took the centre stage in the latter half of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Five players made their debut in the four match series and shined on the biggest stage at the highest level as their abilities were on display of what they can do, when they are given opportunities to perform for their country.
However, apart from the the newcomers, the one other person, who transformed from a stand-in captain to a leader of pack who just wanted to give everything for their team on the field irrespective of adeversaries.
1. Ajinkya Rahane
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Skipper Ajinkya Rahane's return to home met a huge celebration and congratulatory messages by the fans. A blue coloured board displaying 'W 5 4 3 2 1 0' was to be seen outside his home.
W means - Rahane is a 'World class' captain
5 means- Rahane has captained India in 5 Tests
4 means - India has won 4 Tests under his captaincy
3 means - Rahane has won three Tests against Australia under his captaincy
2 means - India has won 2 series under his captaincy
1 means - India has played just one draw under his captaincy
0 means - India hasn't lost a single game under Rahane's captaincy
2. T Natarajan
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From being picked as a net bowler, to making debut in all the three formats, Natarajan was one of the stories of the Australian tour. Natarajan made played the 3rd ODI of the series at Canberra, played all the 3 T20Is and made Test debut in the Brisbane Test and took three wickets in his first innings of his Test career.
3. Mohammed Siraj
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Mohammed Siraj, was probably the story of the Australian summer. From losing a father, to missing his funeral, to making Test debut at the MCG, facing racial abuse at the SCG and taking his maiden five-wicket haul, Siraj impressed one and all with his mental strength and wanting to fulfill hiss father's dream of representing his country at the highest level.
4. Shardul Thakur
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Bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, similar to Siraj was picked in just the ODI sqaud, but injuries meant that he was drafted into the sqauds for other two formats as well. Thakur performed well in the shorter formats, took three wickets in the final ODi, bowled well in the two T20Is and in the final Test at the Gabba, he scored a match-saving 67 with the bat stitching a 123-run partnership with Washington Sundar and took 7 wickets in the match.
5. Washington Sundar
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Washington Sundar, right arm off-spinner from Tamil Nadu also made his debut in the Test cricket in the final game. He took the wicket of Steve Smith as his maiden wicket in the format and ended up with four wickets in the match and also forged a 123-run partnership with Thakur to take India from 186-6 to a score of 300-plus.
6. Navdeep Saini
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Navdeep Saini, another fast bowler who made his debut in the series, also impressed with the ball as he took four wickets in the two games he played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and the Gabba.
