Virat Kohli promised India would win the final four matches to level the tour against Australia at 4-all, after that heartbreaking loss in Canberra, and the vice-captain was delighted to see his team respond to the challenge in brilliant fashion.
India won that match in Sydney to finish the ODI series with a win, before whitewashing Australia in the T20s, with the final victory coming at the SCG as well. The latest victory would have perhaps been the sweetest, considering India chased down a massive 197, with all the batsmen standing up to be counted.
"Just before the Sydney match we said we wanted to finish the tour 4-4, just because we didn't deserve to lose those first four matches," Virat Kohli, who was named the man of the series, said at the presentation ceremony, after scoring yet another half-century in India's seven-wicket victory. "We did well, the batters and the bowlers, everyone contributed."
Kohli was on song right from ball one in this final T20 in Sydney, hitting that ball right off the middle every time. The right-hander looked nailed-on to take India home as well, before unluckily playing one on off Cameron Boyce.
That wicket almost changed the result of the match, as the run rate went up, but Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina held their nerves in the end to drive India to victory off the final ball of the match.
"I was pretty disappointed that I couldn't finish the game off," Kohli added. "I pride myself in finishing the game off, but the way Yuvi and Raina finished it off was brilliant. Hats off to their character."
MS Dhoni gave credit to the bowlers for fashioning this 3-0 win, after the men with the white cherry in their hands bounced back brilliantly after being thumped left, right and centre in the ODIs.
"I give a lot of credit to the bowlers. If you see the ODI series, the batsmen did really well. We needed extra from the bowlers, and they have delivered," the India skipper said. "I think [Jasprit] Bumrah has come in and done well, even Ashish [Nehra] with the experience."
India went with the same team for all three T20s, and even if there are a fair few more matches to go before the World T20, Dhoni admitted the makeup of the side is likely to remain quite similar for the big tournament, which India will host.
"This might be, most likely, the team that will play in the World T20," Dhoni revealed. "There might be a few changes, because the conditions will be different, but this is a settled side. If everything goes well, this could be our T20 side."
