India vs Australia 2017: 5 positives for India 

Australia's tour of India came to an end after the third and final T20I in Hyderabad was abandoned due to a wet outfield. After losing the Test series 2-1 earlier this year, the Aussies visited India to take part in a limited-over series.

Just like the Test series, Virat Kohli and co. dominated the Aussies in the ODIs, eventually winning the five-match series 4-1. They followed it up with a big win in the first T20I before surrendering in the second match and with that, the three-match T20I series was tied 1-1.

There have been a lot of positives for India in the last one month. Let us take a look at five of them.

NOTE: Nothing much happened in the T20I series. So, we are just considering the positives from the ODI series.

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Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder

The biggest positive for the Indian team has been the emergence of 'all-rounder' Hardik Pandya. Before the start of the ODI series, a lot of questions had remained unanswered as to his ability as an all-rounder.

But, he silenced his critics in the best possible manner as he contributed to the team's success with both bat and ball. He was consistent with the ball in all five ODIs and played a couple of match-winning innings with the bat.

The most improved aspect of his batting has been his maturity as he has tried to play according to the situation rather than going after the bowlers right from ball one. His innings in Chennai and Indore and the consistency with the ball have proven that Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder, has come of age in the recently-concluded series in which he was adjudged the Player of the Tournament.

Wrist spinners taking charge for India

Ever since the end of the 2015 World Cup, the Indian spinners have been taken to the cleaners by the opposition batsman as both R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been caught off-guard on numerous occasions.

Both of them were conceding runs at an economy of over six following the conclusion of the 2015 World Cup until the end of the 2017 Champions Trophy. India were looking for answers in the spin department and the selectors were bold enough to take a big call, picking two young wrist spinners in place of the tried and tested Ashwin and Jadeja duo.

That move proved to be a masterstroke as both Yuzi Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav spun a web around the Australian batting order. Their performance should have pleased the captain as this series was a breakthrough one for both of them.

The consistency of Indian openers

When was the last time India had a consistent set of openers? The current set of openers, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan, could well be the most consistent set of openers India have ever had in ODIs.

Coming in as a replacement for Shikhar Dhawan, Rahane grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he scored four consecutive fifties in the series. His opening partner, Rohit, after getting out in an unlucky manner in the first two ODIs, set the stage on fire in the last three matches as he scored two fifties and a century.

The duo also put on three century-plus stands in the last three matches and took their consistency to a whole new level. Unfortunately, only two out of the three openers can play in the XI when Dhawan returns, and the Indian team management will be happy to have a selection headache like this in the future.

Not dependant on Virat Kohli's contribution

In the last five years, the result of an ODI featuring the Indian team was directly proportional to the performance of Virat Kohli in the match. Whenever Kohli scored runs, India went on to win and whenever he failed, India lost the match.

Such has been the trend but the recently-concluded series against Australia put an end to that theory. In five matches, Kohli managed to score a fifty in just one of them and failed to reach the three-figure mark even once, something that has never happened in a bilateral series since the Bangladesh tour in 2015.

In the first match, he got out for a duck and then scored a match-winning 92 in the second before registering scores of 28, 21 and 39 in the last three matches. But, the rest of the Indian batsmen stood up and delivered for the team. Kohli won't bother about his personal records as long as the team ends up on the winning side.

Deadly death bowling

One of the things that made a big difference in the tour for India was their death bowling. After the return of Aaron Finch, the Aussies got off to great starts thrice before the Indians pulled things back.

The main reason behind this was the Indian wrist spinners, who gave vital breakthroughs in the middle overs. The Indian pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah then maintained the pressure on the Aussie batsmen by keeping things tight in the death overs.

Though both Bhuvi and Bumrah took five wickets each in the ODI series, they were economical in the death overs and made life difficult for the visitors with their variations. A strong pace bowling department is always a dream for the Indian fans and now, they can breathe easy as the side have found two gems in Bhuvi and Bumrah.