India win Border-Gavaskar Trophy after Australia collapse in fourth Test

India clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, defeating Australia by 8 wickets on the fourth day of their Test series in Dharamsala on Tuesday (28 March).

With the series tied at 1-1, the visitors collapsed on the third day, losing the likes of David Warner, captain Steve Smith and Matt Renshaw early on during their second innings while still in deficit, before getting all out for a measly 137.

All a Virat Kohli-less India had to do to win the series was score 87 with all 10 wickets remaining and the hosts delivered despite losing two wickets early on.

Murali Vijay was out for eight with Australia later removing Cheteshwar Pujara for a duck via run out for the first time in a home Test match. However, K L Rahul struck his sixth 50 in seven innings while Ajinkya Rahane hit 38 from 27 balls to seal the win for India before the 26th over was completed.

"We wanted to win it 3-1," Pujara said, as quoted on The Guardian. "We are very happy. We wanted to be number one in the Test rankings and the way we've played has been fantastic."

Rahul was pleased with the result, stating that he had to take a few hits for the team.

"I had to play the waiting game," he said. "A little disappointing that I couldn't convert [from 50 to 100], but nothing else matters except the 2-1 win."

"We wanted to be standing behind that board saying 'Champions'. I was telling myself to take a few hits for the team. The wicket was doing a bit. All I was doing was looking at the scoreboard and looking at how close we were to the target."

Australia skipper Smith, who was awarded "player of the series" for his 499, said the whole tour of India was a "fantastic learning curve".

"It was a magnificent series, and one of the best I've been part of so far," he said. "We played some good cricket in this series and had our opportunities at time. Credit to India for winning the series 2-1."

"It was a fantastic learning curve. I think the way the guys were able to adapt and really challenge India in these conditions was terrific. I'm really proud of the way the boys competed in this series. I think that middle session where we lost 5-70... when you do that you're going to put yourself behind the eight ball.

"A lot of people wrote us off before we got here. They thought it was going to be a 4-0 whitewash. We probably let a few moments slip and you can't do that against India... At times I've been in my own little bubble and let my emotions slip, so I apologise for that."

While Smith was awarded "player of the series", Ravindra Jadeja, who got four wickets and 63 runs in the first innings, was awarded "man of the match" as well as "man of the series" afterwards, sparking some confusion.

The result now means India have defeated every nation in their last Test series.