Winning at Adelaide: The magic of cricket returns

The triumph of cricket – Australian cricketers celebrate after the 48-run win over India in 1st Test at Adelaide

In my recent forays into some amateurish cooking, one thing has become quite clear. It's not the intensity of the flame, but the right ingredients at just the right temperature that do the trick.

After five days (well, almost) of those 'right ingredients' left to simmer – Clarke's determination, Kohli's aggression, Vijay's patience, Smith's resourcefulness, Warner's power and Lyon's persistence – the climax of the Adelaide Test cooked up a delicious mix.

It was a feast that served the best of cricket.

*****

A Mitchell Johnson delivery hits Virat Kohli on his helmet on Thursday. It's not a dangerous bouncer. The Indian skipper just gets in an awkward position to play it. The impact silences Adelaide. Johnson is stunned, probably a tad scared as he approaches the batsman.

Australians converge around Kohli who takes his helmet off, has a look at it, acknowledges the concerns of Australian fielders and goes back to business. Everyone's shaken. David Warner is one of them. He was at the SCG when Phillip Hughes fell.

We ask ourselves the same questions again. Will reflexes overpower memories and fears? Has cricket recovered from the mental blow? We only had to wait a day for the answer.

On Friday, Varun Aaron shouts 'COME ON!' after disturbing David Warner’s stumps, a taunt partially aimed at his own captain who didn't have confidence in him for 31 overs in the innings. But he has overstepped and Warner is back, mocking Aaron. Shikhar Dhawan and Warner exchange words now as Kohli acts as the pacifier. Cricket, like life, never ceases to amaze.

Rohit Sharma and Steven Smith are involved in a verbal exchange. Kohli tells Smith to mind his own business. Warner walks all the way from the non-striker's end to shield Smith from Kohli. The audience is having a blast out there. Sourav Ganguly can’t hide the smirk on his face while talking about it during the tea break.

Reflexes have kicked in. Memories have taken backstage. Sledging may not be a widely accepted part of what’s good about the game, but in the current scenario, it was a welcome break. Cricket was working its magic again.

*****

Virat Kohli and the Murali Vijay – India’s most improved cricketer overseas in the last four years – went back at the tea break on the final day with India needing 159 runs in 37 overs. They had batted for the first half of the day to save the Test. 200 runs were knocked off the target in the first two sessions.

Will India accelerate now? Will they go for the kill? It may seem absurd, having to ask these questions in a competitive sport. Of course they will, won’t they?

But that has not always been the case with India. Cricket has not always been about cricket.

*****

July 2011, Roseau - In the 3rd and final Test in Dominica, with the series already in the pocket 1-0, the No. 1 ranked Test team in the world abandons a chase that looks exasperatingly within reach. With 86 runs needed off the last 15 overs, MS Dhoni and Darren Sammy decide to settle for a draw.

India were without their seniors: Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, and Zaheer were rested before the big England tour. This was also Virat Kohli's debut Test series. He was playing his 3rd Test at Roseau and hadn't had a great series, with a high score of 30 in 5 innings.

Dravid and Laxman were at the crease, and Kohli was supposed to come in next. Now he was told a chase of 86 off 90 deliveries to win a Test match with 7 wickets in hand was too risky.

Welcome to Test cricket, or what's left of it. The safety of a series lead was preferred over the spirit of cricket. A trophy was traded for sportsmanship.

A month later India were beaten, bruised and belittled in England. Overseas Tests came back to haunt us again.

*****

Eight overs after the tea break, Nathan Lyon strikes. Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane are back in the hut. Australia are back in the match.

Two overs later Kohli drives a full-length delivery by Ryan Harris through the covers for four. A couple of overs later he whips one through midwicket off Lyon for a boundary.

Against Mitchell Johnson next, he collects back-to-back boundaries, cheekily gliding one between the slips and then rocking back and pulling one majestically through the square leg boundary. Kohli has collected 27 runs off the last 26 balls he has faced. There’s only one target in his mind.

This is not 2011. The safety-first approach is not an option here. This is not a conquest of personal achievements. This is the best of cricket.

*****

2011, Mumbai - Ravichandran Ashwin settled for a single off the last ball when a couple could have won India the Test. Forget falling short, he never even intended to attempt a second run. A draw was fine. The series was won.

2012, World T20 - India needed to restrict South Africa to qualify for the next stage on NRR. They were, instead, content with a one-run win that saw them bow out of the tournament. Set in its defensive approach, India didn't even try to make a game out of it and were satisfied with an inconsequential win.

2012, Nagpur - In the final Test against England, a win was essential to avoid a home series loss. India meandered away on Day 4, uninterested to make quick runs in order to force a result. Match drawn, England completed their first away series win in India since 1984-85.

Lord's 2011, Johannesburg 2013, Wellington 2014, the stories piled on. MS Dhoni's Test tactics away from home, in the face of a stiff opposition and limited unpolished supplies fell flat.

*****

Now Kohli rocks back and pulls a short one from Lyon. He has miscued it. It's not off the middle of his bat. Mitchell Marsh at deep midwicket bends low, the ball is not at a comfortable height, but he manages to take the catch with those reverse-cupped hands.

Kohli doesn't want to leave the field. Dreams, they come crashing down. Remember 1999 Chennai? Remember Saqlain? Remember Sachin? Remember that pain?

India lose by 48 runs. It'll take days to recover from this. Cricket can be injurious to your spirit.

*****

The Champions: Michael Clarke and Virat Kohli shake hands after Adelaide Test

Kohli's eyes say it all after the match. In an emotional moment, he and Clarke exchange handshakes near the boundary.

Kohli is distraught after the loss, but he never entertained any thoughts of playing for a draw. Hit by a shorter one on the first ball he faced in this Test, Kohli was masterful in his pulls, never taking his eyes off the ball throughout the match. Now hit by the bouncer of a Test loss while going for a win, India will only improve if Kohli keeps the same outlook in his captaincy.

Clarke’s life has undergone an upheaval; his injury, he conceded later, may have possibly ended his career. But his team has just won a Test after Hughes’s death. Macksville was a week ago. Clarke doesn’t want to talk about it. He calls it the most important match of his life.

Australian cricketers are huddled around the giant 408 on the ground. They're screaming and celebrating. The shadow of the stands falls over ‘408’. The players are on its boundary, bathed in the evening’s sunlight. It's a moment to rejoice. It's a moment to celebrate cricket.

Lyon is smiling. Warner is beaming with joy. Johnson is hugging his teammates, getting a pat on his head from his captain. The scenes shake you out of your disappointment.

Test cricket resembles life to some extent. There are no shortcuts to success here. Failures are not judged by momentary lapses of concentration, and success is a summation of doing the small things right over five long days in the field.

Now adding another story in this chapter, as Warner, Watson, Clarke, Haddin, Lyon and others smile with joy, you know that like life, cricket has moved on.