India vs Australia: Team India eye twin landmarks with victory in Brisbane

Victory at Brisbane will give Team India its 30th Test win against Australia. India has won their most Tests against the Aussies, 29 out of 101. They have lost 43 and drawn 28 against the Baggy Greens.

Team India has on this tour of Australia showcased time and again that the personnel available to battle it out in the middle does not matter. What matters is for the team to play as a cohesive unit and for each player to contribute. This is the only reason why the four-match series is still alive on the eve of the fourth and final Test.

Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane, left, gestures as he talks with bowler Ravichandran Ashwin during play on day three of the third cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, (AP)

India lost the first Test from a winning position as a batting collapse in the second innings saw them register their lowest ever Test score at Adelaide. With inspirational captain Virat Kohli, who is also the team's best batsman by a mile, going back home after the Adelaide Test, not much was expected from the team.

But the bowlers and stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane proved everyone wrong with a performance for generations as India recorded a massive victory at Melbourne to tie the series.

At Sydney, where Australia has not lost a Test match in years, India was up against it on the final day. But Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin batted for their lives and helped the team to earn a memorable draw.

So, even with more than half of the first team unavailable due to injuries and several others carrying niggles, one can't help but hope for a fairy tale finish to the series.

If India do manage to beat Australia in Brisbane, another one of the impregnable fortresses of the Aussie, then they would become only the second team to beat Australia more than once at home since the turn of the century.

South Africa have beaten them thrice while India and England are the only other teams to have registered a series win on Australian soil in this century.

Ajinkya Rahane's men have the chance to improve on that record and also keep hold of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which they could also retain if the match ends in a draw.

But a victory will be sweet as it would also give the team its 30th Test win against Australia. India has won their most Tests against the Aussies, 29 out of 101. They have lost 43 and drawn 28 against the Baggy Greens.

But before they could think of attaining that feat, captain Rahane and coach Ravi Shastri have the task of getting 11 fit Indian s to get onto the field on Friday and hope none of them breaks down during the match.