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Having batted out the last day in the 3rd Test in Ranchi, former captain Allan Border believes the team has come a long way
Former captain Allan Border says a win for Steve Smith's team in the ongoing Test series in India would count as one of the "very best achievements" in Australian cricket history.
The high-voltage rubber is locked at 1-1 heading into the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala.
"It's right up there with the very best achievements by any team, because (winning in India) has been the holy grail of Australian cricket. It would be unbelievable," Border told foxsports.com.au.
"We talk about the Ashes and what that means, but we go through little periods where you don't win there and then you win them back and it's all fantastic.
"But it has been achieved before both home and away, whereas India is one of those places where we've had such little success going right, right back."
Border called the stunning 4-0 Ashes victory in 1989, with a team described as "possibly the worst side to ever tour England", the watershed moment of his career.
Like in the 1989 series in England, Australia entered India as underdogs.
"I'm surprised we're in this position, 1-1 going into the last Test," Border admitted.
"Even batting out the last day in the third Test, that was a huge achievement. That alone just shows how far the side's come as a group.
"But even if it's a drawn series, 1-1, that flies in the face of all us experts.
"And I say that because I was one of (the experts who wrote Australia off), I thought we'd struggle given our recent form in the subcontinent and just historically."