5 Positives India can take away from Adelaide

Even as India's string of overseas losses continued at Adelaide, there were a lot of positives that came out of the match. From Virat Kohli's captaincy to Varun Aaron's raw pace, from Murali Vijay's grit to the team's self-belief, all these positives will hold Indian cricket in good stead, as it keeps one eye on the future, come 2015.

#1 Virat Kohlis captaincy

For someone who is still in his early days in Test cricket, one can take immense pride in the way Virat Kohli handled his first Test match as captain of India. Ever since he landed on Australian soil, he has been talking about how India should play like the Aussies to succeed, and boy has he walked the talk!

He was proactive on the field, set aggressive fields, tried different things and went out with the mindset of chasing down a near impossible target on Day 5. But what was heartening to see was that Kohli led from the front and didn’t hesitate in fighting fire with fire. A refreshing change indeed.

#2 A resolute Murali Vijay

While his opening partner has been faltering in overseas conditions for quite some time now, Murali Vijay has brought about a new dimension to his game. His solid fifty in the first innings set the tone for India’s reply to Australia’s mammoth total and allowed the middle order to capitalize on the good start.

In the second innings, when there was a realistic fear of India being bundled out early, he held his ground and consumed deliveries to score an unfortunate 99. While Kohli stole the limelight in this Test, Vijay’s contributions won’t go unnoticed, as – after a long time – India has an opener who can last the new ball overseas.

#3 Wriddhiman Saha\'s glovework

Notwithstanding the severe criticism that Wriddhiman Saha faced for his rash shot during India’s chase, he did a splendid job behind the stumps. In the wake of MS Dhoni’s shoddy wicket-keeping in recent times, Saha has provided a valuable alternative for the future.

Not only was he clean in his takes behind the stumps, he moved with ease and didn’t shy away from some aerobics. The Bengal keeper’s effectiveness was such that India conceded just one bye in the entire match. He did have a missed stumping opportunity, but one could easily cut him some slack, as nothing was happening till that point. One would like to see more of him.

#4 Varun Aaron\'s pace

After the altercation with David Warner in the second innings, Varun Aaron clocked some serious pace and created a lot of discomfort for the batsmen. Now, when was the last time an Indian fast bowler troubled Australian batsmen with pace? Clocking up speeds as high as 150 kmph, Aaron is sure to get difficult to handle, come Brisbane on 17. But the only question that one needs to ask – can he display more control?

#5 Changed outlook

One can indeed attribute this once-lost-but-regained aggression and positivity to Virat Kohli’s captaincy, but the overall outlook of the Indian team has changed drastically after being taken over by Ravi Shastri and under the new set of coaching staff. Unlike in the recent past, when Indian teams would want to play with a defensive approach, Adelaide has been a revelation.

The highest ever successful chase in Adelaide was when Australia chased down 302 for the loss of 6 wickets, 112 years ago against England. And India did 13 better than that, with enough overs left to pull off a miraculous win had batsmen remained. Compare this to how India played for a draw at Dominica, West Indies, in 2011, it will help you reaffirm the regained self-belief.