India vs Australia | India is the real deal now, asserts Allan Border

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli and the guidance of Ravi Shastri, India have indeed established themselves as one of the best teams in the world this year. Barring the narrow series loss in South Africa and the disappointing result in England, the Indian cricket team have impressed all throughout the calendar year.

The ongoing tour of Australia is a testament to the same after the visitors made their way to a convincing 137-run win against Tim Paine & Co. to go 2-1 up in the four-match Test series. Australian legend Allan Border heaped praise on the Indian team who he believes is the best team in the world at the moment.

"They're the real deal now, they're the No. 1 team. They've been a great side to watch and they deserve this win. They've had their struggles away from home, but they're starting to improve because they've had some good fast bowling. Now they can combat Australia, South Africa and New Zealand – countries that produce those fast, bouncy, seaming wickets. They used to struggle on those, but they don't struggle on those now," Border told foxsports.com.au.

Allan went on to talk about the Indian pace department that has impressed in the ongoing tour. The pace trio of Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, in particular, have been outstanding in tough foreign conditions. The trio has collectively taken 134 away wickets (Bumrah 48, Ishant 40 and Shami 46) in a single calendar year, eclipsing the 34-year-old record that was held by famed West Indies trio of Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Joel Garner (130 wickets in away tours in 1984).

"They've had some fantastic individual bowlers over the years, particularly famous for their spin, going back to when I first started with Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. Now they've settled on a fantastic fast bowling group, plus they've got a couple in the wings that are pretty handy, plus they've got a couple of good spinners and their batting is very, very good," Border concluded.

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