Australia announced their return to the big time in style in India on Thursday.
The Baggy Greens resurrected their ODI fortunes in the most dramatic fashion, claiming a 3-2 come-from-behind series win.
Captain Aaron Finch and his men arrived in India as clear underdogs, having endured a wretched couple of years in the format during which they lost six ODI series in a row and were ravaged by a ball-tampering scandal.
With India racing to a 2-0 lead, a seventh consecutive series defeat loomed over Australia who pulled off a remarkable comeback by winning three matches in a row for a morale-lifting 3-2 series victory.
Their “comeback” couldn’t have come at a better time for the defending world champions, with the World Cup taking place in England later this year.
Finch explains: “The resilience and fight that we showed being down 0-2 it would have been easy to roll over in those small moments in the game, just let them drift away and India win the series.
“But the fight that we showed, we’ve had our backs against the walls for quite a while now so I’m really proud of the group. From 2-0 down to win 3-2 is pretty special.”
After winning the toss in the decider on Wednesday, Usman Khawaja scored 100 runs as Australia totalled 272/9.
Adam Zampa then claimed 3/46 as they bowled out India for 237 to win the match by 35 runs.