9.15pm That's it for this ODI series - this was a good Australian team that got into a lot of good positions, but it ends with India winning 4-1 and sitting on top of the ODI rankings. A lot of good cricket from a lot of players to get them there. The T20 series begins in Ranchi next Saturday. Until then, good night!
Virat Kohli: "I thought it was a really convincing series win. We've ticked all the boxes. We've been put under pressure, and we've come back four times to win four games. Lots of positives to come out of this series. I think it's become second nature to the players [to keep themselves motivated despite already winning the series]. The management has played a role in that as well. Bhuvi and Bumrah have been outstanding for us. When Umesh and Shami got their opportunity they were pretty good as well. And those two wristspinners in the middle overs, and all the batsmen. Hardik Pandya the biggest example, earning the Man of the Series. Good headache [selection] - you might as well have a few to pick from and take the best 11 possible."
Hardik Pandya is the Player of the Series. "There's always scope of improvement in everything I do, I always believe I can improve day by day. Working hard on my fitness, to be fit for every game, because it's not easy to do both skills. The situation I batted this time was different from what I've been used to, so I've learned a lot, and a pleasure playing against Australia."
Rohit Sharma is the Player of the Match. "It was just a bit of cramping. Obviously it's been very hot here. I've always kept it very simple. Not to complicate things too much. Since I've started opening, I've always kept things simple. There are certain areas I still need to work on - I know my strengths and weaknesses and I try to work around that. Initially it was tough. They came on to the stumps compared to the first few games, and the wicket wasn't playing too good either. Once I got my eye in, it was just about rotating and staying ahead of the run rate all the time. I would love to have such a record against all the teams. I've always loved playing against this Australian team - they are very competitive, they never give away anything easily."
Steven Smith: "Probably around a 300 wicket, I think. Finchy and Davey played really well, and maybe one of our top four needed to go on and make a big score. Disappointing performance, and there's a few things for us to look at. We just need to get the right balance of the way we want to play and put consistent performances on the board. We've played some good cricket at times, but we've been outplayed and India thoroughly deserved to win. You've still got to try and keep a positive frame of mind. We did a few things well in this series - we just need to do them more consistently. We've got to let this go pretty quickly, and we have the T20s in six days, and hopefully we can go home with a trophy."
"If you've got to be a good team, you've got to be relentless," says Ravi Shastri. "You've got to repeat what you did on Tuesday on Friday, and then on Sunday, and then on Tuesday again." The man is endlessly quotable.
Ajinkya Rahane says the pitch had become really slow by the time India batted, and for that reason this was his best innings of the series. I have to agree with that - he was really, really good today.
Nihaar : "The last time India and Australia played an ODI series, the last runs of the series were hit by Manish Pandey at the SCG, even in this series, the last runs of the series were hit by Manish Pandey. Hope he does it again for the next ODI Series too!"
Kunal: "You need a world class spinner to win in India. Aussies just dont have that right now. Is there any in the pipeline in the domestic circuit?" -- Nathan Lyon? He would have loved to bowl on this pitch, and definitely some of the others in this series.
8.44pm India wrap up the series 4-1, and the scoreline is a fair reflection of their superiority in these conditions, especially in crunch situations. Today, their spinners made far better use of a surface with a lot of help for them, not giving away the freebies that their Australian counterparts doled out. And their chase was brilliantly constructed. Rohit and Rahane had to see out some very good new-ball bowling from Cummins and Coulter-Nile, and had to adjust to the slowness of the pitch. They did all that, and Kohli took over from Rahane and did the same, and the life was slowly sucked out of Australia's defence of 242.
Devine: "Kinda feel bad for Manish Pandey. Though he has played every game this series, he hasn't been given a chance to make a slot his own. Technically, he is India's No 4, but he's hardly been sent out at No 4 at all. Difficult to secure your spot and feel confident when you keep getting shuffled around the batting order"
END OF OVER:42 | 3 Runs | IND: 235/3 (8 runs required from 48 balls, RR: 5.59, RRR: 1.00)
- Manish Pandey3 (6b)
- Kedar Jadhav5 (8b)
- Adam Zampa8-0-59-2
- James Faulkner5-0-29-0