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Full recap: How an epic series played out

Expectations were exceeded, reputations were enhanced and dented, and fans were enthralled through four classic Tests

When Australia arrived in India six weeks ago they were expected to lose 4-0.

Steve Smith’s squad was described by former India spinner Harbhajan Singh as the worst Australian sides ever to tour the subcontinent.

India had at that point won eight of nine Tests during their home season and had not lost a Test in their own backyard for some 20 matches, while Australia hadn’t won a single Test in India since the triumphant 2004 series.

Quick Single: India regain Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Virat Kohli, their inspirational captain, was in the form of his life, having plundered double-centuries against New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.

Everything he touched had turned to gold.

Twelve players in Australia’s squad had never played a Test in India, let alone rookie opener Matthew Renshaw who had never stepped foot on Indian soil prior to this series.

The odds were stacked as high as the Himalayas, which provided perhaps the most picturesque backdrop in world cricket for the series finale at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, the third venue of the tour to host its first ever Test match.

Hosts stunned in Pune

So it was with complete shock, amazement and incredulity - at least to the 1.2 billion Indians and millions more around the globe if not the optimistic tourists - that Australia not only beat India in the series opener in Pune but completely annihilated them.

First Test: Super SOK scales the heights with 12

Left-arm spinner Stephen O’Keefe, the player many believed could have been the difference in the lost series in Sri Lanka last winter if injury hadn’t taken him out, was the architect of the stunning upset by claiming 12-70 and shattering records in the process.

Significant contributions from skipper Smith (109), Mitchell Starc (removing Kohli for a duck, and making 61 in the first innings) and Renshaw (99 runs for the match) played their part in the 333-run demolition job.

Match Wrap: Aussies thrash India in Pune

The throttling was a kick up the backside the Indian side needed having coasted through their summer and it awoke a fire inside captain Kohli that would rage for the next two Tests.

The Indians strike back

Australia had the upper hand in the second Test in Bengaluru after Nathan Lyon captured eight wickets on the opening day as the visitors took with them a handy first-innings lead of 87.

Lyon tears India apart with eight-wicket haul

But India had turned up the spice level to a heat that can be only measured in Ghost Chillies, a practically torturous variety of the pepper which is the hottest found on the planet.

Tensions bubbled over (a term that’s been copied and pasted by the travelling and local media alike countlessly this series) when Smith and Kohli exchanged verbal barbs over a clever, and legal, piece of shepherding by Renshaw that denied Ravi Ashwin a shot at stopping a single.

The broth exploded a day later when Smith had a “brain fade” while deciding to review his lbw dismissal, caught looking at the away team dressing room which Kohli, in not so many words, described as cheating in the wake of India’s series-levelling 75-run win.

Smith caught up in DRS controversy

If it wasn’t for a 118-run stand between Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, Smith’s charges might have retained the series in Bengaluru. Instead they travelled to Ranchi where a road waited in the middle of JSCA Stadium.

Smith and his charges stand up when it matters

The loss at M Chinnaswamy Stadium was compounded by injuries to two key members named Mitchell; Marsh’s ongoing shoulder injury required surgery while a fracture in the foot of spearhead Starc sent him home.

Flown over was Victorian allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who days earlier had been in the red centre of Australia representing the Bushrangers in the Sheffield Shield, and pace ace Patrick Cummins, fresh from making his first Shield appearance in five-and-a-half years.

Smith preached before the series the necessity to bat 150 overs, to make scores in excess of 550, to avoid the same mistakes Ashes rivals England made during their own doomed tour four months earlier.

Skipper's Indian epic steers Australia to 451

Australia won a crucial toss and elected to bat but four wickets for only 140 runs put a massive total beyond the hazy horizon.

In what would become a constant theme throughout the tour, Australia dug deep and rebounded. In Pune it was Starc’s swashbuckling half-century in the first innings, in Bengaluru it was Matthew Wade’s gritty 40 and the fast bowlers’ electric spell on the morning of day four.

In Ranchi it would be Smith and recalled allrounder Glenn Maxwell, who each scored centuries. For the former it was his 19th Test ton, for the latter his first, four years after making his Test debut and his finest innings in Australian colours.

Maxwell celebrates emotional Test century

But Australia couldn’t get to 150 overs nor post the gigantic total they were after, instead they had to settle for 451 in 138 overs with Smith unbeaten on 178.

Indian then showed them how it’s done, batting for 210 overs at a snail’s pace at times, as Pujara crafted a masterful 202 in concert with Wriddhiman Saha’s 117 batting at No.7.

Pujara's epic 202 flattens Australia

Faced with 100 overs to negotiate a draw, Australia’s mettle was again tested and the results returned were as hard as steel.

Match wrap: Series level after see-sawing draw

The early wickets of David Warner, Renshaw and Smith rocked the tourists, but when it mattered most, Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh anchored themselves to the crease, refused to budge and batted for four hours to see the tourists draw the match and set up a series decider in Dharamsala.

Tensions bubbled over (ctrl c + ctrl v) once again in Ranchi when the Australians, in particular Smith and Maxwell, mocked injured India skipper, who hurt his shoulder in the field when he landed heavily diving to prevent a boundary.

Smith was cleared of any wrongdoing when evidence was presented showing the mocking hand on his shoulder in fact belonged to teammate Handscomb, while Maxwell’s gesture could not be defended.

Australia had got under the skin of Kohli and it was showing in the captain’s performances; in five innings he had scored just 46 runs, out twice without offering a shot.

Kohli’s injured shoulder was the hot topic leading in to the winner-takes-all final Test. Rumours of his participation ran rife, some ensuring his participation, others giving him no hope.

To Dharamsala, for a decider

All was revealed on the morning of the match when Rahane walked to the pitch wearing the captain’s blazer half an hour before play for the coin toss.

On a fast, bouncy pitch without Kohli, Australia would not have a better chance of winning on Indian soil.

But India are not the No.1 ranked Test team in the world for nothing. Australia had shown resilience and adaptability throughout the tour and now it was time for the hosts to do the same.

They tinkered with their line-up, replacing Kohli with uncapped left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and dropped Ishant Sharma for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The moves were a masterstroke, as Kuldeep, inspired by meeting his idol Shane Warne in Pune, captured three quick wickets to gut Australia’s middle order, while Kumar picked up the key wicket of Smith in the second innings for only 17.

Debutant Kuldeep puts Aussies in a spin

Before Smith fell for a rare failure, he posted a magnificent Test century in the first innings, No.20 of his career and made batting at Test level, under intense pressure, look insanely easy.

He was the absolute standout for Australia in the series with a colossal 499 runs and three centuries, the first time an Australian captain has achieved the feat in India.

Epic Smith notches third century of series

As resolute and disciplined as Australia had been, all it takes is one lapse of concentration, one poor session to lose a Test match, and in this case, the series.

Smith’s men had fought back well to restrict India to a 32-run lead after both sides had batted once, but a horror afternoon session on day three saw them lose 5-92 and surrender the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The end result will show an eight-wicket victory in Dharamsala and a 2-1 series win to the hosts, but Smith and the Australians can hold their heads up high knowing they pushed the world’s No.1 team, who are essentially unbeatable at home, to the brink, with the odds mightily stacked against them.