Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Dhoni pumps his fist and signals to the dressing room. Stumps have been uprooted for souvenirs. Harbhajan wants to lift Ganguly, Laxman and Ishant join in and the they lift him up in the air. Indian flags are waving out there. The Indians shake the hands of the Aussies. Kumble is there too, hugging every Indian player as he walks up the stairs. And now shakes Dhoni's hand and hugs him. Gary Kirsten is there some where too, celebrating with the team.

On the other side, Ponting shakes every Australian's hand. Critics all round the world will look at this series and wonder whether it's the time when Australia lost their aura. Critics have said this is the most unAustralian team in recent memory. Can they regroup and reclaim their halo? Will Dhoni and his boys be the new leaders or will it be some other team? The upcoming season of cricket will provide the answer.

Some 2000 mails have poured in from you lot in the last few minutes! I don't know what to do! So will just type in Chappelli's comment instead.

Ian Chappell on Ponting the captain: "If they just lost the series I don't think there would be any problems. But the fact that they had the chance to level the series at tea-time yesterday.. that might cause a few questions. I believe Sutherland, CEO, is going to ask Ponting about that. The good thing for Ponting that he comes up against New Zealand in Australia very soon and they can win those two and I suspect things might die out after that."

Ceremony is about to begin. Hang on.

Ponting: "It has been a fair result to tell the truth. We played good cricket in Bangalore but from there we have been chasing our tails. India played good cricket. India's tactics slowed us down dramatically on that third day. Looking back that was the turning point. We weren't good enough; probably not patient enough.

"The partnership between DHoni and Harbhajan was vital. Being nine overs behind doesn't help you. There was a similar partnership in Bangalore (harbhajan and zaheer) .. we didn't take our chances. We weren't good enough here and weren't good enough in Mohali and hence the two results. I am still learning about the game, some of the guys will learn. Jason Krejza has had a very good debut. Other guys too would have learnt. We have a Test series in Australia. This has been as a brilliant tour. We have been here seven weeks and the time has flown quickly."

Man of the Match: Jason Krejza : "It has been an experience I will never forget. To take 12 wickets on your debut is unbelievable. What a wonderful game. I was a bit nervous, I tried to keep it inside. glad it has turned out well. My team backed me up, Ricky was a great captain for me and I really appreciate that. I had more confidence going in to the second innings. What I have learnt is .. Test cricket is a tough tough game and you have to be patient. I can come next game and pick none."

Man of the series: Ishant Sharma : "I think in Indian wickets, you have to be patient and bowl in the right areas. All the senior players supported me; that's why I bowled well. I know how your body recovers and I know quite a lot about my body [fitness] now. Zaheer has quite bit of experience and he has constantly adviced me about two things: be patient and bowl in the right areas. My best wicket was taking Ponting in the second innings at Mohali. "

Dhoni: We didn't start off well, it was worrying but we knew once we got a few wickets ....

On the series : This is more important than the India Pakistan rivalry. We had our plans and executed it well.

On Gambhir: The starts were very important. Gautam and Sehwag run well and helped put a big score on the board.

On Kumble and Dada:" They are marvelous cricketers. They have done everything, they led India. When we grew up we saw them playing cricket; we didnt think we would be in the same dressing room. The youngsters will have a tough task filling their shoes. They just need to concentrate on doing their best."

Dhoni moves away from the interview and gives the trophy to Kumble and the entire team celebrate and pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

The Indians get on the man-of-the-series car and drive around the ground. All the players are sitting all over the car! Cannot see who is the brave driver. Scenes reminiscent of Benson & Hedges series in 1985 when Ravi Shaz won the Audi car.

That's it then from us. On behalf of Binoy George, this is Sriram Veera signing off. Thanks for logging on through the series. Good bye and good luck! Shab Bakhair!

50.2
W
Harbhajan Singh to Johnson, OUT, And the doosra does the trick. Game over. India have won the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Fabulous win. Johnson didn't pick it up, shouldered arms and the ball turned in to hit him on the pad. Hawk eye suggests it would have missed the off stump. The Indian players converge to celebrate in a huddle of joy. Dhoni had asked Ganguly to lead the team for the last few overs. In the last Test, he had lifted Kumble on his shoulder as they went around the stadium. Meanwhile, in the here and now, Dravid puts his hand over Ganguly's shoulder.

MG Johnson lbw b Harbhajan Singh 11 (22m 16b 1x4 0x6) SR: 68.75

50.1
0
Harbhajan Singh to Johnson, no run, turns in from outside off, keeps low, pushed out to covers

END OF OVER:
50 | 4 Runs | AUS: 209/9

  • Cameron White26 (49b)
  • Mitchell Johnson11 (14b)
  • Amit Mishra11-2-27-3
  • Harbhajan Singh18-2-64-3

Mohit: "This is Indian Cricket at its best. Dhoni knows how best to respect seniors. I and all of India shall miss Saurav."

49.6
0
Mishra to White, no run, low dipping full toss, turned to the on side
49.5
0
Mishra to White, no run, really full in length, on off stump line, defended to silly point
49.4
3
Mishra to Johnson, 3 runs, googly, flighted delivery and outside leg stump, Johnson paddles it between the keeper' and leg gully
49.3
0
Mishra to Johnson, no run, turning to the pads, tickled to leg gully
49.2
1
Mishra to White, 1 run, turns in quickly, pushed to backward point
49.1
0
Mishra to White, no run, full and outside off, dabbed to Rahul at first slip

Ambrose: "I'm not sure i agree with Jason, Watson and Krejza have kept us in this match and Haddin is as proven player as we had to fill the keeping role. Stuart Clark will continue to be very effective on most wickets, our concern for the next series will be team balance with the all rounders."

Arpan Nigam: "Ganguly should bowl an over too please ..."

END OF OVER:
49 | 6 Runs | AUS: 205/9

  • Mitchell Johnson8 (12b)
  • Cameron White25 (45b)
  • Harbhajan Singh18-2-64-3
  • Amit Mishra10-2-23-3
48.6
0
Harbhajan Singh to Johnson, no run, lands around the off stump, turns away and is left alone
48.5
0
Harbhajan Singh to Johnson, no run, doosra on the middle, jabbed to the leg side

Australia 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st29ML HaydenSM Katich
2nd8ML HaydenRT Ponting
3rd45ML HaydenMJ Clarke
4th68ML HaydenMEK Hussey
5th4ML HaydenSR Watson
6th7BJ HaddinSR Watson
7th17SR WatsonCL White
8th12CL WhiteJJ Krejza
9th1B LeeCL White
10th18MG JohnsonCL White