Australia captain Steve Smith has hailed his team's Lazarus-like resurrection after completing the Test summer with a 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan on Saturday.
Smith's men were staring down the barrel of one of Australian cricket's greatest sporting depressions after sinking to an innings defeat against South Africa in mid-November.
The heavy defeat in the second Test in Hobart stretched their losing streak to five - including a 3-0 capitulation to Sri Lanka - and resulted in the axing of five players and chairman of selectors Rod Marsh.
However Australia responded with four straight Test victories to ensure they head to next month's daunting tour of India riding a wave of success.
Smith admitted the humiliating defeat to South Africa was one of the lowest points of his career.
"It was pretty tough times to be honest with you. You lose your first two Tests of an Australian summer and you're not in a good place," Smith said after the 220-run triumph over Pakistan in Sydney.
"But I'm really proud of the way the guys have come in and turned it around since then.
"We've played some really good cricket and that's the kind of cricket that I want us to play. I'm really pleased for everyone that's been involved."
Smith was at the forefront of the resurgence, hitting two centuries and three half-centuries in his past six innings to lift his career average to a remarkable 60.15.
He is just the fourth batsman, alongside Don Bradman, to average over 60 through 50 Tests.
The 27-year-old, who was named man of the series, pointed to a change in attitude when the team re-gathered in Adelaide after the Hobart massacre as the turning point in their fortunes.
"Straight away I felt a shift in attitude, energy and enthusiasm amongst the group. We were able to put all of that out onto the middle and get the performance we were after," he said.
"We've (since) scored big runs in every game, every first innings. We've been able to build pressure with the ball, hit good areas, and we've caught well this series.
"It's been a pretty good series for us."
