Australia surged into a June showdown against South Africa at Lord's with a six-wicket victory in the fifth Test against India in Sydney on Sunday.
The series was a real treat for cricket loving fans all over the world as there was no shortage of twist and turns in the five-match series.
"I'm immensely proud, I absolutely love playing with these guys and it's been a lot of fun along the way as well."
India set a target of 162, but despite losing three wickets in pursuit, Australia managed to reach 162/4, with Travis Head unbeaten on 34 and Beau Webster not out on 39.
“It's one thing to have a plan, but then to be able to execute that, the way that we have to Virat, (to) put him under immense pressure," said Australia men’s coach Andrew McDonald.
The acclaimed 37-year-old opener Rohit has had a poor series and the writing was on the wall when he failed to show up for India's pre-match press conference.
Walking out at 17/2, Kohli edged a delivery from Scott Boland towards Steve Smith at second slip, with Smith reaching low to his right. With the red Kookaburra wedged between his thumb and index finger, Smith went on to scoop the ball in the direction of Marnus Labuschagne - who caught the ball - before Kohli stood his ground.
Kohli had a huge left-off on his first ball and finally departed for 17, following KL Rahul (4), Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) and Shubman Gill (20) who were out before lunch.
Regular skipper and opener Rohit was "rested" for Sydney Test, India said, after failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings during the series, which Australia lead 2-1.
Smith also scored a ton at the last Test in Brisbane -- his first since June 2023 -- with the latest his 34th in his 113th match.
The incident occurred at the end of the 10th over on the first day of the Melbourne Test when Kohli bumped the Australia debutant's shoulder, which led to a heated exchange between the two players.
Batting after captain Pat Cummins won the toss on a steamy day, the hosts reached 311-6 by the close in front of more than 87,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In front of a huge crowd on a sweltering morning, the 19-year-old shrugged off a shoulder bump from an irked Virat Kohli and a barrage of invective from paceman Mohammed Siraj on the way to a memorable 60 in 65 balls.
The 19-year-old Konstas will become Australia's youngest Test debutant since Cummins took the field against South Africa at Johannesburg in 2011.
Temperatures are forecast to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Thursday, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground curator said during the week he expected the pitch to offer plenty for the fast bowlers.
Aggressive number five Head is the highest run scorer in the five-match series, plundering centuries at both Adelaide and Brisbane.
Konstas was called up after selectors dumped Nathan McSweeney after just three Tests, with the 19-year-old tasked with fending off Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah alongside an under-performing Usman Khawaja.
While he was dismissed for just 11 in his first innings of the series, Head went on to hit 89, 140 and 152 in his next three outings.
Uncapped opener Sam Konstas wins a call-up for the omitted Nathan McSweeney, while all-rounder Beau Webster and pace duo Sean Abbott and Jhye Richardson are also included in the 15-player group for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests.
