Kumble's men responded superbly to their defeat in Sydney

The tourists ended Australia's hopes of a record 17th consecutive Test triumph to cut their series deficit to 2-1.

"Considering the fact that no visiting team gets any chance coming into Perth and being 2-0 down, it was a great effort and a brilliant win," he said.

"This is at the top. Whatever victories I've been involved in home and away, this ranks as one of the best."

Australia, who were set 413, were bowled out for 340 on day four after resuming on 65-2.

They were 253-8 at one stage but Mitchell Johnson, who made his maiden Test fifty, and Stuart Clark (32) frustrated India until the second new-ball finished the tail off.

The Indians now move on to Adelaide, where they won in 2003, confident of squaring the series.

The way we regrouped says a lot about the character this team has Anil Kumble

Kumble's men arrived in Perth on the back of an acrimonious defeat in Sydney which ended with allegations of bad sportmanship and racism.

"We had our moments in the first two Tests, but we grabbed it here and nailed it," the skipper, who took his 600th Test wicket during the match, added.

"It was a great team effort, and the way we regrouped says a lot about the character this team has. It was a very special win.

"We will take this confidence to Adelaide. It's important we take this momentum forward and ensure we level the series after what happened in the first two Test matches."

When it mattered we didn't produce the runs Ricky Ponting

Australia skipper Ricky Ponting blamed a poor batting display on day two for his side's failure to move beyond the 16 straight wins the current team and Steve Waugh's Aussie line-up achieved from 1999 to 2001.

"Our first innings was where the game was lost - 212 on that wicket was nowhere near enough and some of the batsmen played some pretty ordinary shots," he said.

"Whenever you're more than 100 runs behind in a Test it's pretty hard to fight your way back into it.

"The bowlers did an outstanding job by dismissing India for manageable totals, but when it mattered we didn't produce the runs."

Ponting said opener Matthew Hayden, who missed out on Perth with a hamstring problem, would return for the finale.

606: DEBATE This should remind the Aussies they are not masters of the game anymore and their reign is over Suprememasterno1

And he warned the Indians to expect an improved display from his team.

"Matty's been doing a lot of pretty intense work over the last five or six days to give himself the best chance of being right for Adelaide," Ponting added.

"He was pretty hard to leave out of this game, he just wasn't quite 100%, so he should be right for Adelaide.

"India thoroughly deserved to win, they totally outplayed us, so we've got a bit of work to do.

"Adelaide's a ground and set of conditions India like - they beat us there last time, which was the last Test match we lost in Australia before this - so they will go out of this game with a fair bit of confidence.

"The Indians are pretty good front-runners so we have to make sure we hit the ground running in Adelaide.

"We will train harder than India in the next few days, and it is up to us to show what this team is made of.

"Australian teams historically have been able to bounce back. We can turn things around pretty quickly."