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India's tour of Australia has already seen a retirement take place in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin while talks around Rohit Sharma's exit from the longest format of the game have also intensified after his absence from the final match in Sydney. However, as India suffered a 6-wicket defeat in Sydney, with the result eliminating them from the World Test Championship final race as well, a picture featuring India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, and Virat Kohli triggered a storm on social media.
Gambhir was seen hugging Kohli while they were waiting for the post-match presentation to start. While there's been talk about Virat's future in India's Test team as well, owing to a poor run of form Down Under, some fans got worried, wondering if the batting icon is about to make an announcement over his future as well.
Gautam Gambhir hugs Virat Kohli. pic.twitter.com/wMcqCgm3q1
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 5, 2025
Australia won the five-match series 3-1 and also qualified for the World Test Championship final against South Africa slated at the Lord's from June 11 to 15. A target of 162 could have been trickier had new Test captain Jasprit Bumrah been in a position to bowl despite painful back spasms but once Virat Kohli led the team out, it was as clear as the Sydney skyline that defending the total would be next to impossible.
Bumrah deservedly claimed the player of the series honour for his 32 wickets in five matches but that was hardly a consolation for the shambolic team performance that India managed. Prasidh Krishna (3/65 in 12 overs) and Mohammed Siraj (1/69 in 12 overs) were not a patch on Bumrah and despite multiple breakthroughs, they bowled too many poor deliveries to make it easy for the hosts to canter home in just 27 overs.
Usman Khawaja (41), Travis Head (34 not out) and debutant Beau Webster (39 not out) completed the formalities, putting an end to India's misery in a tour that has exposed all of the team's batting frailties and an unhealthy reliance on Bumrah.
Once Bumrah was ruled out after he tried some shadow bowling during the morning warm-up session and didn't feel comfortable, the writing was on the wall. The magnificent Scott Boland (6/45) and the ever-reliable Pat Cummins (3/44) polished off the Indian tail for just 157 in 39.5 overs.
If one takes out Rishabh Pant's fiesty 61 and Yashasvi Jaiswal's 22, the other nine players collectively contributed a mere 74 runs.