India, who won silver in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games after losing to Australia 0-4, suffered a 0-4 whitewash in the first match but came back strongly to win the next three matches in Australia.
"Making a comeback after 0-4 thrashing in the first match was an indication that Indian players are getting better both physically and psychologically. Earlier, a good start to a tournament was very important for the psyche of our players and similarly in a match, we used to drop our heads after conceding early goals. But that didn't happen in this series," former Indian captain Zafar Iqbal pointed out.
"With this kind of performance, India have shown that they have worked hard on their fitness which added to their confidence. Indian team is definitely improving and showing signs of revival. But, they will face a far bigger test in the upcoming Champions Trophy to be held Dec 6-14."
In the series at the Perth Hockey Stadium, Indian strikers, often blamed for their poor conversion rate and finish, set up the big win.
Speedy forward S.V. Sunil and young and lively striker Akashdeep Singh made up for the misfiring drag-flickers V.R. Raghunath and Rupinderpal Singh.
"It is good to see the field goals scored by Akashdeep Singh and S.V. Sunil. They are talented players and now they have improved their finishing. Indian set-piece specialists score freely against the lower-ranked teams but they flounder against big teams like Australia. They need to work even harder to improve their game," A.K. Bansal, who has nurtured several players of the current team as junior team coach, said.
Bansal, however, refused to term the recent wins as revival for Indian hockey.
"It is too early to call it a revival. It's a good win. We need performances like this consistently. There are a lot of positives to be taken out from the series. Though the Australian team played without some of their big players, it still should be considered as a very good win."
Also, broadening the smiles on the faces of hockey fans, is the junior team that won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held in Malaysia Oct 20.
