SYDNEY — India may have hung on to claim a draw against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground Saturday, limiting the series defeat to 2-0, but the four-Test series will be remembered more for the performances of opposing young captains Virat Kohli of India and Australia's Steve Smith. Kohli scored four tons in the series, an effort matched by Australia's stand-in skipper Steve Smith, who is the heir apparent to the injured Michael Clarke as permanent captain, and as young leaders they may be establishing a longstanding rivalry. Smith was named Man of the Series after an aggregate of 769 runs — with four hundreds and two half-centuries — which surpassed Don Bradman's record of 715 runs in five Tests in 1947-48 as the most runs in an Australia-India series. The 25-year-old's 117 in the fourth Test also matched the feats of Bradman (vs. South Africa in 1931-32) and South Africa great Jacques Kallis (vs. West Indies in 2003-04) in scoring four hundreds in four consecutive tests of a series. The 26-year-old Kohli marked his elevation to India's captaincy by smashing his fourth century of the series in Sydney. Kohli produced an unbeaten 140 at the SCG to go with his twin centuries in the first Test at Adelaide and his highest score of 169 in Melbourne's third test. Australia was denied a dramatic victory when India survived a nervous final session. Smith's side was aggressive to the very last ball but unable to break the eighth wicket pairing of Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The tourists, who were handed a victory target of 349 when Australia declared on its overnight score of 251-6, collapsed from 160-2 at tea to 217-7 but Virat Kohli had promised his team would never throw in the towel and it was true to his word. It had reached 252-7 when Australia ran out of overs in the early evening gloom. There was a period around the tea break when Kohli and opener Murali Vijay flirted with going for the victory. Once their third wicket partnership was broken with the departure of Vijay for 80, however, it was damage limitation all the way as Kohli (46), the luckless Suresh Raina (0), Wriddhiman Saha (0) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1) all quickly followed. That the last three were all out leg before wicket was an indication that the pitch was finally producing some turn and movement after being something of a batsman's paradise for much of the match. It was also fitting reward for Australia's bowlers, particularly paceman Josh Hazlewood and spinner Nathan Lyon, who had bowled with discipline and accuracy in the first two sessions without being able to claim more than two wickets. The field closed in around Rahane (38 not out) and Kumar (20 not out) with often just one Australian outside the cordon but the Indian batsmen held firm to secure a second successive draw after the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Given the lack of success for both sides in each other's countries in recent years, that could be considered something of an achievement for India. “We took them to the end on three occasions, two were draws and one was a loss that could have gone either way,” Kohli said. “I'm really, really proud of the way the guys have played in this series. Australia has had to earn both the victories they've had.” With 5,870 runs scored by both sides, it featured more runs than any other four-match Test series. — Agencies
