JEDDAH: The much-touted Test series between India and Australia ended on Monday in Nagpur, and with it the aura of near invincibility of the world No. 1 team following India’s historic 2-0 series win.

Australia, nursing its first series defeat since 2005, will now be pondering what now as it gets ready to face New Zealand first and then the rest of the world, while India, which regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, takes on the mantle of the team to beat in world cricket.

And it goes into the next series against England with the daunting task of proving that this series win was no flash in the pan.

Young faces Gautam Gambhir and pacer Ishant Sharma — gave ample proof that Indian cricket was in secured hands by emerging on top in the batting and bowling departments respectively .

India is now in the cusp of a curve that could take it further up or on to a slippery slope. The reason is that two of the veterans who had built India into a feared Test team have now retired. It will be now up to the newer players who step into their shoes to sustain the drive toward the top spot.

In fact, Australian cricket has recently passed this point. It is now in a new rebuilding phase and it will take at least a few more years for it to reassert its supremacy.

The Kangaroos still lead in the rankings followed by India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, England, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh. But the loss of key players upset their rhythm and balance. And the churlish behavior of Andrew Symonds that cost him a Test place did not do any favors to Australia.

Though the series was very defensive-oriented, the key to India’s success was teamwork and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy, which occasionally showed a flash of dash. Playing against the Aussies always got the best from the Indians. It was no different this time. Every member of the team, with the exception of former skipper Rahul Dravid (120 runs), who had a poor run, contributed to this series win. The Aussies were outplayed on and even off the field with the Indians giving them the taste of their own medicine where sledging was concerned.

Though the Indians started as favorites the Aussies were under tremendous pressure as world-beaters and knew that their reputation was at stake. Only a series win would have helped keep that intact. From India’s point of view, all eyes were on the ‘fab four’. However, Sachin Tendulkar (396), Sourav Ganguly (324) and V.V.S. Laxman (381)held the middle order together, and let their batting do the talking to silence their critics. ‘The Wall’ never got going. Now with Ganguly leaving a void, and Dravid’s place suspect, it would be handy for the Indian selectors to blood some youngsters for the next series.

India’s batting for once was consistent and at its best. Virender Sehwag (351)and the in-form Gautam Ghambir (463) were always off to flying starts - the likes that always allowed the Australian middle order to build on. Here the Aussies did not have that luxury and it was India’s turn to employ this tactics successfully. The Indian middle order was like a rock and always built on that foundation. Dhoni (307), Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan came up with timely contributions with the bat that frustrated the Aussies right throughout the series.

On the other hand, Australia’s big names failed to deliver which added to their misery. Brett Lee, their best bowler, failed to fire. The present crop of bowlers are no replacements for all-time greats, Glen McGrath and Shane Warne. The Aussie batting order of Matthew Hayden, Ricky Pointing, Michael Clarke were not consistent. Simon Katich (349) and Michael Hussey (394) dazzled for the men from down under. Their wafer-spin attack - except for the last Test where rookie Jason Krejza (12 wickets) and medium pacer Mitchell Johson (overall 13) - never made an impact on the Indian batsmen.

The Indian mettle was evident during the first Test at Bangalore. When the chips were down, the Khan-Bhajji partnership exposed cracks in the Australian bowling attack and there was no looking back after that.

The 320-run defeat in the second Test at Mohali buttressed the fact that the Aussies are no longer the dominant side they used to be. They crumbled to the pace and reverse swing from Khan and Ishant Sharma (Man-of-the-Series, 15 wickets) and had no answer to the spin of rookie Amit Mishra (14) and Harbajan (15). This was India’s biggest Test win by runs ever. For Australia, it was its first series defeat since the 2005 Ashes series against England, and the biggest against India since Melbourne in 1977.

This Test series will also be remembered for Tendulkar breaking Brian Lara’s world record (11,953) for the highest runs in Test cricket. Tendulkar’s 88 in the second inning helped him tally 12,027 runs at an average of 54.17. Tendulkar had described his career as a “fantastic journey.”

“It has taken me 19 years to get the record,” the 35-year-old said. “There have been ups and downs in the process of success,” he added. When asked about his retirement, he quipped, “If stones are thrown at you convert them into milestones.”

The Aussies tried to make a fight of it in the third Test when their batting came into its own on a placid New Delhi pitch. But once again the Indian batting lineup proved too strong and the match ended in a draw. In fact, had the Indian fielders not shown butter fingers, it might have been a different story.

It was India’s Anil Kumble’s last Test as skipper. The leg-spinner, who bowled with 11 stitches on his finger, said he made the decision as he would not be able to bowl in the Nagpur Test. “The injury helped me take this decision,” he said. “I wanted to quit after the series, but after the injury I knew I would not be 100 percent fit and I did not want to let my team down.”

Kumble played 132 Test matches, took 619 wickets at an average of 29.65, scored 2,506 runs and snared one century and five fifties.

Nagpur was to be the Aussies last stand, and with batting dominating it looked like another draw till the penultimate day when things took a turn leaving the Aussies needing 382 to even the series. But they collapsed for 209 to the spin of Harbhajan and Mishra.

Monday’s victory was also a fitting farewell for another former skipper Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly scored 7,212 runs in 113 Tests with 16 hundreds at an average of 42.17 and 11,363 runs in 311 one-day internationals with 22 centuries.

Ganguly, who was instrumental in leading India’s charge up the Test ladder by leading from the front, said Dhoni was the right man to lead India. “He has done fantastically well and I know he has the abilities to take Indian cricket forward,” Ganguly said.

Ponting has been one of Australia’s most successful captains. This was only his second series loss in 48 Test as skipper. The margin could have been 1-0 had not Ponting resorted to his part-time bowlers on the fourth day to make up the number of overs. And with it he allowed India back into the Test and lost every chance of at least squaring the series. The Sydney Morning Herald’s cricket columnist Peter Roebuck said it was one of the most baffling displays of captaincy seen in the long and proud history of Australian cricket.

India next takes on England in the first Test in Ahmedabad, India from Dec. 11-15 while Australia meets New Zealand at home in Brisbane in the first Test from Nov. 20-24.