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India have won the first Test match against Australia at Adelaide by 31 runs. In the end, it was too close for comfort but the Indian bowlers managed to hold on to their nerves when, as always, the opposition tail wagged against them.
The Adelaide win was a record-breaking one as this was the first time India had ever won the first Test match of a series in Australia in 70 years. On the 11 previous occasions, India had lost 9 and drawn 2. This was India’s sixth Test win in Australia.
With this win, India became the first team to win a Test match in Australia, England, and South Africa in the same calendar year. Kohli became the first Asian captain to win a Test match in all these 3 countries.
The winning margin of 31 runs was India’s closest in an overseas Test. Ironically, India lost the first Test match of their earlier tour of England at Edgbaston by exactly the same margin of 31 runs.
After witnessing a close encounter at Adelaide, it is time now to review the 10 reasons behind Team India’s incredible win at Adelaide.
1. Kohli’s luck with the toss
Unlike in England, Kohli’s luck with the toss changed at Adelaide. Kohli had no hesitation in electing to bat first the moment he won the toss. That gave India a clear advantage to start with. Though India lost 4 wickets in the first session of the Test match, they could still recover to move into a winning position mainly because they were batting first.
In England, Kohli was unfortunate to lose all the 5 tosses which had a telling effect on the outcome of two close Test matches at Edgbaston and Southampton. But at Adelaide, Kohli did a great favour to his team by winning the toss.
To further emphasize the importance of winning the toss, Kohli had so far won the toss in 20 Test matches and had a record of winning 17 and drawing 3. He is yet to lose a Test match after winning the toss.
2. Selecting the team with the best composition and personnel
The India team management’s decision to go in with 6 batsmen for the first Test match of the series was the right move considering the fact that In the previous overseas tours to South Africa and England, it was the batsmen who failed the team, more so in the First Test of the series.
Having decided to go in with 3 fast bowlers and one spinner, India chose the best spinner in the squad, Ashwin as the lone spinner. That decision was made easier by the fact that the opposition had 6 left-handers in their batting line up.
India omitted Bhuvneshwar Kumar and selected 3 hit-the-deck fast bowlers in Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami. These fast bowlers managed to rattle the Australian batsmen with their raw pace.
The selection of additional batsmen in the form of Rohit Sharma has helped the team to recover from a shaky position at 41 for 4 in the first innings. At the toss, Kohli explained that the team has decided to play Rohit Sharma as the additional batsman instead of Hanuma Vihari for his ability to bat better with the tail.
The Indian team management was spot on with the composition of the team as well as the selection of personnel.
3. Pujara’s century in the first innings
Pujara came into bat in the third over of the match when Rahul once again gifted his wicket to a loose shot. For a change, Rahul’s mode of dismissal was different from his normal routine of being bowled or LBW. Pujara saw Vijay, Kohli and Rahane depart at the other end even before the Indian score reached 50.
Pujara in the initial stages of his innings was very tentative against both Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood. The loss of wickets at the other end didn’t help either. He was struck on his individual score of 11 for 30 deliveries before he slashed Mitchell Starc for a dangerous boundary after lunch. When on 19, he had a narrow escape when the ball fell just short of the short leg fielder. But he stayed on to fight till the end.
While Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant were living dangerously at the other end, Pujara was more assured at the crease in the second session of play on the first day. Even their dismissal didn’t deter Pujara’s concentration as he reached his 50 off 153 balls in the company of Ashwin. He added 62 priceless runs with Ashwin. However, after the dismissal of Ashwin, Pujara demonstrated a new facet of his batting skill while batting in the company of tailenders.
When Ashwin got out, Pujara was on 72. He shifted gears hooking Hazlewood for a six and pulling him for a four to reach 99. Pujara reached his 16th hundred off 231 balls before he was run out for 123 with the help of 7 fours and 2 sixes.
From 4 for 1, Pujara nearly batted through the whole of the first day to drag India out to a competitive score of 250. It was Pujara’s brilliant hundred which saved India from humiliation on the first day.
By scoring 71 in the second innings, Pujara became only the third Indian batsman after Mohinder Amarnath and Rahul Dravid to score a century and a half-century in a Test match in Australia.
In the end, it was Pujara's batting which was the real difference between the two teams.
4. Collective bowling effort of the Indian bowlers in the first innings
Though India managed to score only 250 runs in the first innings, the Indian bowlers were relentless in the first innings with their tight line and length aggressive bowling. The Indian bowlers were also helped by the slow outfield which made the Indian score to look like 400.
In the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith, the Australians couldn’t get going at the top and in their effort to grind the Indian bowlers to dust, played into their hands.
While Ashwin accounted for the 3 left-handers at the top, Ishant, Bumrah and Shami took care of the middle and lower orders of the Australian batting line up. It was due to their collective consistent efforts that India could squeeze out a 15 run lead in the first innings which accounted for half of the ultimate margin of victory.
5. The dogged approach of the Indian openers in the second innings
The Adelaide Test was described by experts as a match where the new ball was supposed to play a big role in determining the course of the match. As the ball got older, it was supposed to do nothing except for aiding the batsmen to settle down and play longer innings.
In that respect, it was of paramount significance for the Indian openers to survive the new ball attack of the Australians in the second innings to build upon the slender first-innings lead of 15. A couple of early wickets in the second innings for the Australians would have nullified India’s marginal advantage. Besides, it would have led to a top-order collapse.
Both Vijay and K.L. Rahul showed admirable patience in playing out the new ball in the second innings. They put on 63 runs for the first wicket and in the process played out 18 overs of the new ball.
After surviving his initial few balls, K.L. Rahul moved into his natural attacking instincts which helped the scoreboard to move along. Though the manner of dismissal for the two Indian openers in the second innings was equally reckless as in the first innings, they did their job by shielding the Indian middle order against the new ball.
6. The resolute efforts of the Indian middle-order in the second innings
Aided by the spirited performance of the Indian openers, the Indian captain Virat Kohli found his feet in the second innings when he played patient innings of 34 off 104 balls.
Kohli curbed his natural attacking instinct to play a composed inning. In the company of the first innings centurion Pujara, Kohli added 71 runs for the 3rd wicket which complemented the opening partnership.
However, the most significant contribution in the second innings came from Ajinkya Rahane with his match-winning innings of 71. It was Rahane’s partnership of 87 runs with Pujara in the first session of the fourth morning which took the game away from Australia.
Rahane, though not in the best of the form of late, was positive in his intent right from the beginning of his innings in nullifying the Lyon threat. He was so certain about using his feet in dominating Nathan Lyon.
Taking into consideration India’s inexplicable collapse in the second innings in which they lost their last 5 wickets for 25 runs, it was the Pujare-Rahane partnership which saved the match for India.
In a hindsight, it would be fair to say that the collapse, which happened after this match-winning partnership, was a blessing in disguise for India as it ruled out the possibility of Australia playing out for a draw. In the end, India had ample time to take all the 10 Australian wickets in the second innings.
7. The lion-hearted effort of Ashwin and the fast bowlers in the second innings
In the Australian second innings, Ashwin bowled a marathon spell of 53 overs out of the 120 overs bowled by India. He almost bowled unchanged from one end except for a little break when Murali Vijay bowled a few overs to rest Ashwin.
Ashwin, though not so effective on the fifth day, finished with figures of 3 for 92. More importantly, Ashwin got the all-important last wicket of Hazlewood to take India to a famous win.
In the second innings, the Indian fast bowlers gave crucial breakthroughs to the team at the different point of time. In the beginning, it was Mohammad Shami who, along with Ashwin, gave the initial breakthroughs with the wickets of Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb.
Early on the fifth day morning, it was Ishant Sharma's turn to remove first innings top scorer Travis Head with an unplayable short ball which got big on him to break open the game.
Bumrah took 3 of the 6 wickets that fell on the last day. With his clever variation in length, he removed the well-set Shaun Marsh just before lunch which brought India back into the game. Immediately after lunch, Bumrah removed the Australian captain Time Paine with a short ball which effectively ended Australia’s chase. Bumrah finished off the day with the wicket of Pat Cummins who showed a lot of resistance in his 121 ball innings.
Mitchell Strac and Pat Cummins caused a lot of nervous moments for the Indians with their partnership of 50 runs. The partnership was assuming dangerous proportions when Shami struck for India by getting rid of the dangerous Mitchell Starc.
In the end, the never-ending bowling spell from Ashwin and timely breakthroughs given by different fast bowlers at different stages in the second innings was a major factor in achieving this win.
8. Rishabh Pant’s record-breaking performance behind the wicket
Rishabh Pant had a fantastic Test match as a wicket-keeper. By taking 11 catches, he equalled the Test record of most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper set by Jack Russell and AB. de Villiers.
Pant should have created a new record when Bumrah induced an edge from the tentative bat of Nathan Lyon only to be dropped by Pant. Apart from this difficult chance, Pant held on to all the catches that came his way.
Pant showed a lot of improvement compared to his struggle with the glove in England. He was safe behind with the wickets as he conceded only 7 byes in the entire match. Along with his wicket-keeping skills, Pant managed to get into the skin of Australian batsmen with his continuous chatter behind the stumps which annoyed the Australian batsmen no end. Pant did his job to perfection to the liking of his skipper who believes in meeting fire with fire.
In batting too, Pant contributed with crucial innings of 25 and 28. His innings of 28 in the second innings was more crucial as it took India’s overall lead past the 300 mark. Through experience, Pant should learn to value his wicket. Pant has had his say in few of India’s successful reviews in the match.
Pant’s record-breaking performance with the glove was one of the main reasons for India’s Adelaide triumph.
9. Judicious use of the Decision Review System
For once, the Indians were successful in using the DRS to their advantage. It seems the Indians have finally learned to use the DRS more out of conviction than out of hope. Some of the reviews made by the Indian batsmen were instantaneous decisions backed by firm conviction.
In the first innings, Ishant Sharma was saved by DRS which helped him to forge a useful partnership with Pujara. Pujara himself was saved by DRS twice in the second innings when on 8 and 17. Pujara ended up scoring 71 in the second innings. Rahane too got a reprieve by DRS in the second innings.
While on the field, in the first innings, India successfully reviewed a caught behind decision against Usman Khawaja who until that time was in control of the situation. That lucky breakthrough enabled India to gain a slender first innings lead. Here again, Kohli went for the review immediately backed up his firm belief.
India’s judicial use of the DRS has played a big role in India’s victory.
10. Kohli’s inspiring leadership
Last but not least was Kohli’s inspiring leadership which brought India this rare overseas win. A captain is rarely given his due credit when his team wins while in defeat the captain takes all the blame.
Kohli was spot on with his bowling changes in the entire duration of the Test match. He went for the kill in the first innings with his attacking field when India finished up with a below-par first innings score.
In the second innings, when India had enough runs in the tank, Kohli blocked one end up with Ashwin and wisely rotated his fast bowlers from the other end in short spells. This brought about the desired results. With his aggressive leadership qualities, Kohli was taking on the Australians and was never short of throwing at a word or two at the opposition.
With his ever increasing aggressiveness, Kohli ensured that the Aussies never came back into the contest.
The downside for Team India
It was not a blemishless all-conquering win for India at Adelaide. It was a close win which has brought to light the following weaknesses:
1. The Indian bowlers once again failed to wrap up the opposition tail. In the first innings, Australia added 108 runs for the last 4 wickets. However, one specialist batsman in the form of Travis Head was at the crease at that time.
In the second innings, chasing a target of 323 for a win, Australia were first reduced to 84 for 4 and then to 156 for 6 with all the specialist batsmen back in the pavilion. The last 4 wickets added 135 runs to give India a lot of nervous moments in the end.
There were no back-to-back wickets against tailenders as Australia added 31,41,31 and 32 runs for the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth wickets respectively. The last 4 Australian batsmen managed to survive a total of 42 overs.
2. The continuous failure of Rohit Sharma in Test matches is a cause for concern for Team India. He was over aggressive in the first innings which led to his downfall and overcautious in the second innings.
3. Though the Indian openers redeemed themselves to a certain extent in the second innings, they were clueless in the first innings. Rahul could be an attacking option at the top if he learns to survive the first 30 balls of the innings.
4. The perennial no ball problem has caught up with Ishant Sharma in this Test match. He was denied two wickets due to overstepping. The second one off Nathan Lyon in the second innings almost cost India the match.
To sum up, it was a hard-earned win for India as any reverse in a close contest at the beginning of the series would have shattered the confidence of the team. Now Kohli’s men are in with a chance to create history with a series win in Australia.
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