Australia vs India 2018: 5 best individual performances from the Test series

It was touted to be the best ever chance for India to win their first Test series Down Under after the turmoil in Australian cricket in 2018 that started at Newlands in March with the “sandpaper” incident.

Plenty of off-field administrators were shown the door after the whole nation were shell-shocked at how things unfolded in the Rainbow Nation. However, the biggest blow for Australian cricket was the ban on arguably their two best batsmen in former captain and his deputy Steven Smith and vice-captain David Warner respectively.

It was always going to be an uphill task for Australia against the No 1 Test side in the world albeit in their own backyard. There was a new captain in Tim Paine and former Australian batsman Justin Langer was appointed the coach after Darren Lehman decided to step down after the South Africa series.

Having said that, both Australia and India had very good bowling attacks at their disposal and hence there was a general feeling that the team which bats well had the better opportunity to win the series.

It was here that India clearly possessed better quality and Australia’s inexperience because of the non-availability of star batsmen was exposed big time.

The one thing that’s evident from the series was, no matter how good your bowling attack is, runs on the board goes a long way in winning Test matches and more importantly the series.

India had more or less the same bowling attack in South Africa and England earlier this year but failed to cross the line because of the lack of runs except for Virat Kohli, who was sublime even in bowling friendly conditions.

After the SCG Test was interrupted by rain, India managed to win the series by a 2-1 margin and as you would expect, there were some fantastic individual performances from either sides and here is a look at the top 5.

Cheteshwar Pujara – 123 (246), 1st innings, Adelaide Oval

In the first Test of the Australian summer, all eyes were on India’s skipper Virat Kohli. The fans around the globe, local media, former players and even the opposition players were talking about this man’s impact on the series.

India won the toss and were in early trouble on a wicket that had some green tinge and spongy bounce to go with it. When Usman Khawaja pulled off a blinder at gully to dismiss Kohli, Indian fans would have had old memories of Indian batting line-up struggling on bouncy Australian conditions.

When Rohit Sharma was dismissed, India had only 86 runs on the board with half the side back in the pavilion. Only Cheteshwar Pujara had the technique and patience to fight it out there.

With only young wicketkeeper Rishab Pant and bowlers for company, Pujara paced his innings to perfection. His shot selection was immaculate and the way he handled off-spinner Nathan Lyon was top quality. He danced down the track as much as possible to put him off the radar and was successful in scoring runs on either side of the wicket.

In the process, Pujara brought up his 16th Test hundred and in the end, was dismissed by a stunning piece of work in the field by Pat Cummins and probably the only way Australia could have dismissed him. His hundred went a long way in India taking an early lead in the 4-match series.

Australia knew this Indian batting line up is more than just Virat Kohli.

Virat Kohli - 123 (257), 1st innings, Perth

The teams were welcomed to Perth’s new stadium with all the eyes on the 22 yards and if it will match the pace and bounce of the old WACA. When the pitch was shown for the first time, the fans couldn’t find the difference between the outfield and the actual playing area.

It was expected to seam, swing and bounce and that was a gamble taken by Australia after being 1-0 down in the series. The home side won the toss and decided to bat despite the live grass on the surface because it was expected to crumble later in the Test. They managed a more than competitive score in the first innings to put pressure on Kohli’s men.

In walked the Indian captain at 8-2 and immediately makes his intentions very clear. The ball was doing all sorts of things but he walks out and smashes three boundaries of one Hazlewood over which sent the crowd frenzy. The authority with which he scored boundaries even off good balls ensured why he was cut above the rest in the modern generation.

Kohli drove, cut, flicked and pulled to all parts of the ground to bring up his 25th Test hundred and by doing so in his 127th innings, became the second fastest only after Sir Don Bradman.

We have seen the run machine churn out hundreds for fun across all formats but this ton in bowler-friendly conditions has to be right up there with his best.

Nathan Lyon 8-106, match figures, Perth

The playing surface was so green that India decided to go in with a four-pronged pace attack while the home side had off-spinner Nathan Lyon in their ranks. In the end, the team selection made all the difference with Lyon picking up an 8-wicket haul in the Test including a 5-for in the 1st innings.

Lyon is someone who doesn't possess too many variations and only gets to beat the batsman in the air and has been very successful in the past few years for Australia. In the 1st innings, his role was to keep the one end tight while the three pacers looked to bowl short spells from the other. The off-spinner not only kept the end tight but also mopped up the lower order pretty quickly to finish with five wickets in the innings.

But the real magic came only in the second innings when he got the wickets of Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay. The tussle with the former throughout the series was a fascinating one to watch and the way he set up the Indian captain was simply incredible.

Lyon kept bowling a little bit short on middle and leg stump for a couple of overs or so and that made Kohli play on the back foot until he tossed up one well outside off stump into the rough and a bit fuller to make Kohli come on the front foot and the batsman nicked it to first slip and it looked like a plan that worked. It would have given Lyon even more satisfaction since it was against the best batsman in the world.

Opener M Vijay was made to drive through the covers and the ball hit the rough to clip the leg stump to effect a classical off spinner’s dismissal and who knows, it might have ended the batsman’s Test career.

Jasprit Bumrah 9-86 match figures, MCG

One of the finds in Indian Test cricket in 2018 has to be Jasprit Bumrah. He came into limelight in the IPL playing for Mumbai Indians and many thought that he is good enough only for white-ball cricket but can never be an asset in the longest format.

Well, he has now become India’s No.1 bowler across all formats and Kohli’s go-to man in all conditions.

On a wicket where Aussie quicks found it difficult to go past the batsman’s defences, Bumrah was able to knock their batters with sheer pace and that speaks volumes of his incredible skill.

To see foreign batsmen ducking and swaying against an Indian paceman is indeed a very rare sight for fans and this was on show at the ‘G’ in which Bumrah ran through the Aussie batting line up that set up an Indian win to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

The 25-year old’s spell of 6-33 in the first innings was the best ever by an Indian at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground and he picked up 3 more in the second innings to end up receiving a well-deserved man of the match award.

Pat Cummins 9-99 (match figures) and 63, 2nd innings, MCG

If ever there was a lion-hearted performance in a losing cause, Pat Cummins’ effort with the ball as well as bat in the third Test at MCG has to be right up there.

After taking a mammoth 292 run lead, Virat Kohli decided not to enforce follow-on instead decided India will bat in the 2nd innings on a wicket that was slow but starting to show variable bounce, especially off the quicks.

When most bowlers would have let their shoulders drop, Pat Cummins decided to run in hard and gave his everything to give Australia a glimmer of hope to chase down a target. His 6-wicket haul was a testimony to not only the talent he possesses but also the fitness levels because Australian bowlers could not even get a day’s break as they were bowled out in 66.5 overs.

Cummins also looked like a batsman with the best technique among his teammates and his really hard fought 63 meant Australia took the Test into day 5. Even though the target was a bit too much in the end, Cummins showed the fight that unfortunately his top-order batsmen couldn’t.

Surely Pat Cummins has to be one of the best all-rounders going around in international cricket at the moment.