Former Australia skipper Tim Paine has said that neither Rishabh Pant nor Mohammed Siraj, but Cheteshwar Pujara was key to India winning the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. That series is one of the most memorable Test contests between two of the best sides in the world and India's comeback after being thrashed in the first Test is one for the movies.

Pant played an unbeaten 89-run knock in the fourth and final innings to help India chase down 328 at the Gabba. He was India's highest run-scorer in the series and was the Player of the Match in the Gabba Test, helping India breach Australia's fortress.

Mohammed Siraj, on the other hand, picked 13 wickets in three matches, posing an unknown danger to Australia batters which they couldn't tackle. But Paine believes that Pujara was the real match-winner for India in the series.

"What I do remember, is a lot of people talk about Rishabh Pant in the last series in Australia, but the guy who won them the series was Pujara. He wore us down, he wore our pacers down. He kept getting hit on the body, but he kept getting up," Paine said while speaking on the Grade Cricketer podcast.

Pujara scored 271 runs in four matches in that series, with three half-centuries to his name. While he couldn't score many runs in the first two Tests, he scored a fifty in India's first innings in the third Test in Sydney, adding 32 runs for the third wicket with skipper Ajinkya Rahane. He added crucial 53 runs for the fifth wicket in Pant as well, although India were bowled out for 244.

Pujara played a crucial 77-run knock in the 407-run chase in that game, adding 148 runs for the fourth wicket with Pant, to eke a draw out of the game.

In India's chase of 328 in the Gabba Test, Pujara scored a crucial 56. He added 114 runs with Shubman Gill for the second wicket, 35 runs for the third wicket with Rahane and 61 more with Pant for the fourth wicket.

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