This year's Boxing Day Test came to an end on the last Sunday of the year 2018 as the Indian cricket team registered one of their most memorable overseas wins in an eventful five-day game against Australia in their own backyard.

Although, the name of a contact sport is associated with its name but the Boxing Day is not just a mere cricket match or a fierce sporting encounter. It's an annual ritual that completes the delightful Melbourne summer along with its grand sales at shops, mega stores and malls across the city. It's a sentiment the Australian cricket has uninterruptedly been possessing over the last few decades as the touring international team of a particular summer plays at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground on the joyful day after the Christmas.

The stakes were a bit higher this time as the depleted Australians, trying to overcome their annus horribilis following the ball-tampering scandal, were taking on the complacent Indians, who were jolted after losing the second Test at Perth against the hosts after winning the first Test at Adelaide.  

An almost capacity crowd of over 73,000 greeted the teams on the first day at the Big G, as the ultimate amphitheater of Australian Rules Football is called by its fans. Moreover, in order to restore some goodwill amidst the Boxing Day festivities, one of the highlights of the game was when a seven-year-old Archie Schiller, a kid with a congenial heart disease, was made the co-captain of the Baggy Greens. The little boy, who underwent 14 cardiac surgeries till date, surely brought some extra sunshine to the MCG on the opening day as his wish of playing for Australia someday was fulfilled on the remarkable day.

The Boxing Day Test also fulfilled the wish of an almost inconspicuous last-minute replacement Mayank Agarwal, who made his debut for India as the side decided to bring in the uncapped batsman with an attempt to solve its perennial opening problems throughout the tour.

If a patient Agarwal helped India to get a solid and steady start with a debut half century in the snail-paced Indian first innings, then Indian speedster Jaspreet Bumrah ran through the Australian batting innings in the rain-interrupted match. Although, Virat Kohli's much vaunted side saw an almost catastrophic batting debacle in the second innings after not enforcing a humiliating follow on, Cheteshwar Pujara's first innings century was good enough to help the Indian pace trio of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma and negate a gritty all-round performance by their rival paceman Pat Cummins, who picked up nine wickets and scored a valiant half century in the match. 

Another highlight of the fierce contest was the exchanges of tongue-in-cheek banters between the two rival wicket-keepers – Australian captain Tim Paine and his Indian counterpart Rishabh Pant as the remarkable rivalry reached the pinnacle at the hallowed cricket ground on the momentous occasion. 

However, in the end, Bumrah's nine-wicket haul not only powered India to a 137-run win but also handed over a 2-1 lead in the four match series, which the Indians, after their historic 150th Test triumph, can't lose at all, both statistically and factually. A draw in the fourth and the final Test in Sydney will be more than enough to guide the richest cricket team in world cricket a monumental series victory.