What could have been India’s day at the Adelaide Oval ended with Australia stealing a share of the pie. And that because Virat Kohli’s innings, which seemed to be a masterclass in the making, was cut short by a run out.
Kohli, who looked in complete command, was run out when his deputy Ajinkya Rahane backed out after calling for a single and it happened just before the second new ball was taken on the opening day of the first Test, a Day-Night affair, of the four-match series.
Once Kohli was gone, for a well-made 74, Australia chipped in with two more quick wickets with the new pink ball. And thus, from a comfortable 188/3, India slumped to 206/6. Ravichandran Ashwin (15 batting) and Wriddhiman Saha (9 batting), however, saw off the final few overs to ensure India reached 233/6 at stumps on Thursday.
In conditions which can’t exactly be called batting friendly, Kohli, who shut out everything extraneous, blended caution and aggression in his 180-ball innings.
Every now and again, though, there was a glimpse of the former thrill seeker, such as pull shots off Mitchell Starc in front of square and off Josh Hazlewood behind square in consecutive overs after tea; but even these were brought to ground. A cover drive off Nathan Lyon was imperious, yet also orthodox, with none of the usual wristy flourish.
Then came the culpable error by Rahane, a skittish runner prone to taking a few anxious steps down the pitch in such a way as to draw partners on.
Kohli’s innings could be referred to as a template to educate Test batsmen on how to tackle challenging conditions.
Unlike Cheteshwar Pujara (43 off 160), who let the Aussie bowlers dictate terms with an ultra-defensive approach.
Kohli’s 88-run partnership with Rahane (42 off 91 balls) during the final session was threatening to demoralise the hosts, but then the mishap happened.
Rahane was soon snapped up by Mitchell Starc (2/49) with the second new ball and then Hanuma Vihari (16) fell to Josh Hazlewood (1/47).
Early struggle
In the morning, Prithvi Shaw’s poor technique was once again exposed when he dragged a Starc delivery on to his stumps going for an expansive drive off the very second ball of the day. His opening partner Mayank Agarwal (17) weathered the storm well initially, but he lost his stumps to a beauty from Pat Cummins (1/42).
Thereafter, it was all about Pujara’s defence, too much of it some would say. As he either blocked or left ball after ball, the scorecard hardly moved.
While some may argue it’s Test cricket after all, Pujara taking 148 balls to hit his first boundary does not quite suit the image of modern-day cricket.
