India's struggles in Test cricket continued as they suffered their second successive series defeat.
India were outclassed by six wickets in the fifth and final Test at Sydney on Sunday as Australia clinched the five-match series 3-1.
India's batting once again came undone on a lively pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground as they were bowled out for under 200 in both innings.
The series laid bare the frailties in India's batting line-up as a few seniors inched closer to the exit. While Ravichandran Ashwin retired mid-way into the series, Captain Rohit Sharma sat out of the last Test after struggling for runs and Virat Kohli had a series to forget with the bat.
Jasprit Bumrah emerged as the lone bright spot, with a record haul of 32 wickets but found little support from his bowling colleagues.
How India's players rated in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series:
Rohit Sharma (0/10)
Rohit's Test career came to an inglorious end after he became the first Indian captain to drop himself.
It was no surprise that the skipper saw the writing on the wall after a string of failures with the bat in the last few series.
He missed the opening Test in Perth which India won by 295 runs and his subsequent return to the playing XI in the second match completely upset the balance of the side.
He accommodated himself in the middle order in the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests, but failed to make an impact with scores of just 3, 6 and 10 in the three innings.
Despite his poor form, he gambled by opening in the fourth Test in Melbourne, pushing the in-form K L Rahul to No 3, once again disrupting the team combination. He managed just 12 runs in two innings at MCG, before he himself stepped aside for the fifth and final Test in Sydney following widespread calls for his axing.
His captaincy was also lacklustre as he was guilty of being too defensive and allowing the game to drift.
Rohit finished with 31 runs in five innings in the series -- an embarrassing tally for a frontline batter as even bowlers Jasprit Bumrah (42 runs) and Akash Deep (38 runs) fared better than him.
Jasprit Bumrah (10/10)
Bumrah was easily the player of the series by a long margin.
He finished with a record 32 wickets from five Tests -- the most by an Indian bowler in an overseas Test series -- at an astounding average of 13, which included three five-wicket hauls.
His eighth five wicket match haul and aggressive captaincy helped India start off a victory in the Perth Test.
Despite not getting enough support from the other end, Bumrah continued to torment the Australian batting line-up throughout the series but the hosts somehow managed to win three of the last four Tests to clinch the series 3-1.
He bowled just 10 overs in the first innings of the Sydney Test before a back spasm ruled him out of bowling in the next innings. That proved to be the big difference as Australia made the most of Bumrah's absence as they chased down 162 in just 27 overs.
Such was Bumrah's impact that if not for his wonderful bowling, India would have struggled to even compete against Australia in the series.
Rightly so, Bumrah has been hailed as one of the best fast bowlers to have played the game after his exploits in Australia.
Virat Kohli (2/10)
A series Kohli would like to forget as his poor showing pushed him closer to the exit.
After a horror time with the bat against New Zealand at home, Kohli bounced back with an unbeaten century in the first Test victory in Perth.
But the joy was short-lived as he failed miserably in the next four Tests.
Australia's pacers didn't have to work hard to dismiss Kohli, who kept obliging them every time by pushing at deliveries outside the off stump to be caught behind the wicket in all his eight dismissals in the series.
He finished with 190 runs in 10 innings, which included 100 not out, at an average of 23. After scoring the hundred at Perth, he went past the 20-run mark just once as his scores in the next four Tests read: 7, 11, 3, 36, 5, 17 and 6.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (8/10)
Jaiswal was another player who managed to keep his reputation intact.
The 23-year-old opener's 161 powered India to victory in the first Test in Perth. But he struggled in the next two games before he bounced back with two fifties in the fourth Test at MCG.
However, his cheap dismissals in the final Test at SCG showed that the youngster still has a lot to learn.
He finished with a creditable 391 runs at an average of 43, with a century and two fifties -- the highest by an Indian batter and overall the second highest after Travis Head (448 runs).
K L Rahul (6/10)
Rahul's series started with a lot of promise, with scores of 26 and 77 after he took over the opening role in Rohit's absence in the first Test in Perth.
Rahul continued to open in the next two Tests despite Rohit's return. He played a solid knock of 84 in Brisbane before he was shunted to No 3 as Rohit returned to the opening position in the MCG Test.
The shuffling didn't help Rahul as he made just 24 runs in the fourth Test. After Rohit dropped himself from the SCG Test, Rahul went back to open the innings, where he failed twice with scores of four and 13.
Rahul continues to divide opinions. While he showed glimpses of his immense potential with some quality knocks in the first half of the series, his inconsistency in the latter games was a big letdown.
He finished with 276 runs in 10 innings in the series at a mediocre average of 30, with two fifties.
Shubman Gill (1/10)
Gill is another major headache for Indian cricket.
Once hailed as a future superstar, Gill's performance have taken a sharp dip in the last year or so.
His Test performances have been particularly concerning, as the young right-hander hasn't been able to convert starts despite being granted his wish to bat at his favoured No 3 slot.
In Australia, he failed to carry on after getting off to starts in Adelaide with scores of 31 and 28, while he fell for one in the rain-hit Brisbane Test.
The team management lost patience as he was dropped for the fourth Test at Melbourne but came back for the next game at SCG in place.
However, he again failed to make it count as he gave his wicket in both innings with two bad shots.
Gill made just 93 runs in five innings in the series at an average of 18, without a single fifty.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (8/10)
Reddy was the find of the series for India.
A surprise inclusion in the Test team, he justified his selection with gutsy knocks lower down the order while also contributing with his medium pace bowling.
His century at No 8 in the MCG Test was one of the highlights for India in Australia as his stupendous knock helped India fight back from a desperate situation in the first innings.
The 21 year old showed his mettle in his debut Test in Perth with vital knocks of 41 and 38 not out at No 8, while scoring another couple of 40s in the next match at Adelaide.
He finished as India's second highest run scorer with 298 runs at an average of 37, while he also bagged five wickets in 44 overs bowled during the series at an average of 38.
Rishabh Pant (6/10)
Even though he looked in good form, Pant was not able to make most of starts.
He fell twice in the 30s and thrice in the 20s in the first four Tests before he played his first real innings of note in the final Test at SCG -- smashing a belligerent 61 from 33 balls with four sixes and six fours to save India the blushes in the second innings.
Pant's shot selection came in for a lot of criticism, after he threw his wicket away attempting an outrageous scoop off pacer Scott Boland in the MCG Test.
He will be disappointed, not making most of his good form, finishing with 255 runs in nine innings at an average of 28.
Ravindra Jadeja (4/10)
India would have expected much more of their lead spinner who managed just four wickets in 63 overs bowled in three Tests.
Having missed the first two Tests, Jadeja took over the mantle of lead spinner after Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement mid-way into the series.
He went wicketless in 23 overs bowled in the rain-hit Brisbane Test, before taking four wickets in the next match. He didn't have much to do in Sydney, where he bowled just three overs on a spin-friendly pitch.
Jadeja also didn't contribute much with the bat. He rescued India with a 77 in Brisbane but fell cheaply in the next four innings to finish with 135 runs at an average of 27.
Washington Sundar (6/10)
Washington impressed in the limited opportunities he got in the three Tests.
Included to strengthen the lower order batting, he didn't get much bowling. It is a mystery why he was picked as the second spinner for the Sydney Test on a green pitch where he bowled just one over.
He scored 114 runs in six innings at an average of 22, including a fifty, while bowling just 37 overs in three Tests, in which he picked up three wickets.
Mohammed Siraj (7/10)
After a slow start, Siraj found his rhythm in the last couple of Tests.
He did well in his supporting role to Bumrah with five wickets in Perth, and followed it up with 4/98 in Adelaide, but was guilty of leaking runs.
In the third Test, he went at more than four per over in the 30 overs he bowled in the match and was taken apart in the first innings at MCG, giving away 122 runs in 23 overs while going wicketless.
But he found some much-needed form in the second innings when he took 3/70 in 23 overs, playing the perfect foil for Bumrah.
Siraj excelled in the first innings of the Sydney Test, taking 3/51 to bowl out Australia for 181 but the poor showing of the batters undid all his good work.
Akash Deep (4/10)
Akash Deep toiled hard but struggled to make a mark as the third seamer.
The pace bowler was also unlucky with a few dropped catches in Brisbane, where he claimed three wickets in the match. He managed just two wickets at the MCG to finish with a tally of five wickets in the series in 77.5 overs bowled at an average of 54.
Harshit Rana (4/10)
Another surprise pick, Rana made head turns with his fiery pace in Perth.
He looked quite sharp with his ability to bowl quick along with some extra bounce as he took four wickets in his debut Test match.
But he got a hammering in the Adelaide Test, when he was smashed for 86 runs in 16 overs in Adelaide as he suffered at the hands of Travis Head.
Prasidh Krishna (7/10)
Krishna showed what India missed out on in the first four Tests, as he claimed six wickets at SCG -- his only match of the series.
On a green pitch, Krishna picked up some important wickets in Australia's first innings to help India take a narrow four run lead despite being bowled out for 185.
In the second innings, he rocked the Australian top order with a three-wicket burst with the new ball but Bumrah's absence saw Australia recover from the early damage to smash their way to victory.
Ravichandran Ashwin (2/10)
Ashwin's career ended in the most unfortunate fashion.
As the lone spinner in the pink ball Test in Adelaide, Ashwin kept things tight for figures of 1/53 in 18 overs, while also scoring a vital 22 to take India to 180 in their first innings.
But he found himself out of favour after that match, and the senior spinner promptly decided to retire rather than prolong his stay in a dressing room where he no longer felt wanted.
Devdutt Padikkal (2/10)
Padikkal's selection for the Perth Test was shocking. He was not part of the original Test squad, but he was called up from the India A team to play in the series opener following Shubman Gill ahead of the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Padikkal disappointed as he fell for a duck in the first innings before scoring 25 in the second innings.
Dhruv Jurel (2/10)
Jurel will feel hard done by.
After hitting two fifties for India A on a tough MCG pitch in a low-scoring game against Australia A, Jurel was included for the Perth Test, where he failed in both innings.
He didn't get any other opportunity for the rest of the series despite other batters consistently failing through the series.
Photographs: ICC/X, BCCI/X
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