The cry of joy

Cameron Spencer of Getty Images captures a moment when the Australian team pose with the Border-Gavaskar trophy after the conclusion of fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

Australia were enjoying a run of success over the last year till they were beaten in a Test series by Pakistan in UAE. Just days before the start of the series against India, the cricket world was shocked when Australian cricketer Phil Hughes was felled by a Sean Abbott bouncer at SCG and succumbed to his injuries two days later. So shocked were the Australian cricketers that the India tour was in a threat to be called off. However, the matches got rescheduled and Australian players announced that they would play it for their deceased team-mate, Hughes.

The emotional series got underway in Adelaide on December 9, last year. In a hard fought match, Australia managed to go up but they lost their captain Michael Clarke to a career threatening injury, which meant he would play no further part in the series. Steve Smith was named the new captain and they continued their dominance over India.

Smith led from the front scoring 770 runs in four Tests as Australia reclaimed the Border-Gavaskar trophy (which they had lost in their India tour in 2012-13) with a 2-0 win over India. Smith, who surpassed Sir Don Bradman as the highest run-getter in an India-Australia series, was also announced the man-of-the-series.