India v Australia - Series Summary
AUSTRALIA WON THE SERIES 2-1
Australia's win in the fourth and final Test gave them their first ever come-from-behind series victory, and the fact that they did so was largely down to the disintegration of India's batting over the second half of the series. First innings totals of 133 in Delhi and 127 in Kolkata put India out of realistic contention in both games, and the fact that these performances coincided with Don Bradman's triumphant return after injury sealed India's fate.
The series had begun so well for India, with two substantial centuries from Gavaskar guiding them into a 1-0 lead at the halfway stage, but aside from Engineer and a couple of fighting innings from Umrigar, he received little support as the series progressed. India's middle order had been reconstructed after their recent defeat against West Indies, but it still remains in need of repair, with Pataudi's complete failure putting his place in the side, and consequently his captaincy, in jeopardy once more. India's bowling was also inconsistent; Chandrasekhar started brightly but ran out steam, and Kapil Dev failed to make any impact following his good progress of the previous season.
As far as the Australians were concerned, Bradman's reintroduction to the team for the third Test was most certainly a turning point in their fortunes, and the bowling of the recalled O'Reilly was a consistent threat over the course of all four Tests. Richie Benaud's 8-20 in Delhi was undoubtedly the outstanding individual performance of the series, all the more so when one considers the anodyne nature of his performances with the ball in the first two Tests.
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