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Ryan Sidebottom’s hopes of featuring in the third ODI against India on Thursday have been dealt a blow after he was sent for a scan on his lower back following the team’s arrival in Kanpur.

Sidebottom, the reigning England Player of the Year, has been dogged by persistent injuries in recent months, most recently an Achilles problem that ruled him out of the Stanford Series showdown in Antigua, as well as the first two ODIs in India.

He has not featured in England’s ODI team since the series against New Zealand in June, while his most recent international appearance came in the Edgbaston Test against South Africa in July, when he was again troubled by back problems.

Few would have expected Yuvraj Singh to improve on a 78-ball 138 but he went one better in Indore, following up his second consecutive century – this time rescuing India from a top-order collapse – by dismissing four of England’s top five batsmen. The contest was effectively ended when he got rid of Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen in the same over, ensuring India won by 54 runs.

Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh has gotten out of his skin. It’s very customery of him. He has been thrashed by even the average players throughout his career, and to make that up he uses his dirty long tongue. Just sheer out of luck and the propaganda pressure by Indian media, they won the test series against Australia and now every tom, dick and harry has started ridiculing the world champions.

Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh has said that Ricky Ponting is an “average captain” after his bowling decisions in the final Test helped India record a 2-0 series victory over Australia. Harbhajan Singh has always done that, and even when he first time bowled out Ponting, he made fun of him and is still sticking to the habit.

First days for an opposition captain in India don’t get much worse. Kevin Pietersen’s decision to field because of an early morning start in Rajkot backfired spectacularly as India galloped out of the blocks and never looked back. What seemed a brave decision turned into an utter disaster with India posting 387 for 5 in 50 overs of ballistic strokeplay. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag added 127 for the first wicket, after which Yuvraj Singh overcame a stiff back to slam an unbeaten 138 from only 78 balls.

Andrew Symonds has insisted he will not owe his team-mates anything when he returns to the Australia team on Friday for a Twenty20 match against an All-Stars line-up. Symonds will be part of a side led by Michael Clarke, who was the stand-in captain in Darwin in August, when Symonds was cut from the squad for his ongoing lax attitude.

Clarke was an integral part of the team leadership group’s decision to dismiss Symonds following his now infamous fishing trip. For the past couple of months Symonds has undertaken a welfare programme to help him improve his mindset and he is keen to move on rather than looking back at how the situation unfolded.

These two teams have fought some epic battles in their time, but this time it was different. A sense of inevitability permeated the series and it grew stronger with each match, each innings. Australia haven’t been so outplayed since their dominance began, yet to many Indian fans, drawing the series in Australia in 2003-04, or even winning the Perth Test earlier this year, felt much more special. The truth is that, barring the morning session on the third day of the first Test, Australia never looked like winning.

Speaking after his final day of international cricket, Sourav Ganguly has said his most significant contribution was to raise the image of Indian cricket by building a team that was competitive overseas.

“During the phase from 2000 to 2005 [when he was captain], and it’s still going on now, Indian cricket’s image has gone up immensely, especially while touring,” Ganguly said. “We were always termed as soft when we travelled. I think that has changed considerably. At the present moment India are a formidable side home and away.

That it happened in the same city where Australia famously conquered the final frontier four years ago was poignant. India regained the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, their first series win over Australia in eight years, after they bowled Australia out for 209 to win by 172 runs. It was a dramatic day, with an energetic India following up three early wickets with dropped catches to allow Matthew Hayden score a pugnacious 77 and give Australia a whiff of victory. India’s spinners held their nerve, however, and relentlessly plugged away with precision and hostility to snuff out the seven wickets required to regain the trophy squandered in 2004. India confidently stepped into a new era with their captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, winning his third Test in a row.

It was almost farcical. If the session between lunch and tea had set up Australia’s chances of squaring the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the third undid that in a puzzling manner. Australia had decisively wrested back the momentum in a thrilling afternoon session, dislodging a century opening stand and then running through India’s middle order, only to let it slip with some bizarre tactics in the final session. Instead of returning to the fast bowlers – whose ability to reverse the ball had India in trouble before tea – Ricky Ponting employed part-time spin and military medium to up the over rate. It only created breathing room for India, with a 108-run stand between Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh helping the score to 295. Chasing 382, Australia’s openers took 13 off the first over, but that would mean little to India at the moment. If Australia lost the plot, it was in the final session. They came out a different team, with Ponting not calling on Shane Watson, who impressed with two wickets after lunch, or Brett Lee. Cameron White’s first over went for 12 and Ponting, worried about a flagging over-rate, turned to Michael Hussey’s innocuous slow medium-pace. It was rather odd, given that Australia needed four wickets. Even stranger was the time Ponting often took to change bowlers and set fields. Whatever the true reason, it only aided India’s cause. Dhoni and Harbhajan added 108 in 27.2 overs. Dhoni’s weapon of choice was the sweep from outside off stump – one shot rocketed for four before anyone could move – and there were also fierce pulls when the spinners dropped short. He cramped up but still relied on strong wrists to collect 55, an innings cut short by a smart catch at silly point off Jason Krejza, who finished his debut Test with figures of 12 for 358. Harbhajan’s contribution was a busy and very handy 52 – his second fifty of the series, and fourth against Australia – which comprised nudges, sweeps, and a textbook cover drive for four. He was bowled by a gem from Watson, who finally made an appearance 26.1 overs into the session, and cleaned up the tail to take 4 for 42. Until Watson’s excellent spell, India had dominated the session. This was in stark contrast to the manner in which Australia seized the afternoon after failing to take a wicket in the morning. The first session had been one of steady accumulation, interrupted now and then with a few audacious strokes from Virender Sehwag. The Australian bowlers kept the ball well up to the bat and, although consistent, they appeared to lack the firepower needed on this batting pitch. Sehwag and M Vijay had put together a century stand, but this was overshadowed by a dramatic collapse of six wickets for 50 runs between lunch and tea. Sehwag, resuming after lunch on 59, had launched Krejza’s first over for 14, including a six over long-off and a four over the umpire. The total had reached 116 when Vijay, on 41 from 81 balls, was trapped lbw by a cutter from Watson.

Australia’s hopes of levelling the series suffered a setback as they failed to counter India’s defensive tactics in the fourth and final Test here on Saturday.

The visitors were bowled out for 355 in reply to India’s first-innings total of 441 on the third day. With just two days to go, they will need an extraordinary effort to win the match and square the series.

Australia trail 1-0 after their 320-run defeat in the second Test in Mohali. The matches in Bangalore and New Delhi were drawn.