Australia vs India 2018-19: 5 things we learnt from the Test series

#3 Pat Cummins and Marcus Harris, the only positives for Australia

Pat Cummins was excellent with both bat and ball

Pat Cummins was by far Australia’s best player of the series. Every time Australia were in trouble, Cummins put his hand up and delivered, be it with the bat or ball.

With the ball, his figures and numbers might not suggest how well he’s bowled. He ran in all day and kept cranking it up. He troubled most of the Indian batsmen and looked quite lethal at times, but the wickets column doesn’t do justice to how well he’s bowled.

Even with the bat, he fought valiantly as he denied easy access to the lower-order. Batting at 8, Cummins faced 446 balls - which is more than what Shaun Marsh or Peter Handscomb faced. In fact, the 446 balls he faced is the fifth highest by an Australian in the series, just behind the 464 balls faced by Tim Paine.

Meanwhile, Marcus Harris seems to be the only positive for Australia with the bat. The 26-year-old opener proved that he belonged at the international level as he faced a quality Indian attack and emerged as the leading run-getter for his team.

Harris accumulated 258 runs at an average of 36.85, registering a steady start to his international career. In fact, he was never dismissed for a single-digit score throughout the series, and his lowest score was 13.

Nathan Lyon did well too but faded away as the series went along. However, despite not being at his best in the last couple of games, he finished as the joint leading wicket-taker in the series.