What transpired on Day III of the first Test was indeed “strange”, as Virat Kohli rightly said, with the game getting over inside two sessions even before the lights were on.

The skipper pointed out lack of intent as one of the reasons behind the debacle. “The ball didn’t do much, but we didn’t have much intent of going out there and taking the game forward. Everything happened so quickly that no one could make any sense of it...

“Quite disappointing for the position we were in,” Kohli said later.

“They bowled similar lengths in the first innings also. We were just better in terms of handling it and having a plan around how to go about it. The way we batted (in the second innings) allowed them to look more potent than they actually were in the morning.”

When they fell like ninepins The Telegraph Picture

Dismissed for their lowest-ever Test total of 36 in the opening game in Adelaide, India are going to get headaches in the remainder of the series, feels Josh Hazlewood, who wrecked India with figures of 5/8.

“Getting bowled out for 36 is going to leave a few headaches here and there, and their best batter (Kohli) leaving is going to leave a bit of a hole.

“But they’ve got plenty of class batters on the sidelines to come in,” Hazlewood said.

According to Sunil Gavaskar, Australia’s pacers should be lauded instead of blaming India’s batsmen.

“I mean, any team that is all out for its lowest Test score since the time it started playing Test cricket, that’s never good to see,” Gavaskar told Channel 7. “But having said that, if any other team had been facing that kind of bowling, they would have also got out, maybe be not all out for 36, maybe 72 or 80-90.”

Sachin Tendulkar too gave more credit to Australian quicks. “With the way India batted & bowled in the 1st innings, they were in the driver’s seat, but the Aussies came back really hard this morning. That is the beauty of Test cricket. It’s NEVER over till it’s over. India was outclassed in the 2nd half,” Tendulkar tweeted.

FACT CHECK

⦿ For the first time in Test cricket history, all 11 batsmen and extras did not cross single-figures in an innings. Mayank Agarwal with 9 was the top scorer.
⦿ Mayank Agarwal reached 1000 Test runs of his career in 19 innings. He is now the third quickest for India after Vinod Kambli (14 inns) and Cheteshwar Pujara (18 inns).
⦿ Pat Cummins playing in his 31st match claimed 150 Test wickets, which is the joint second-fastest for Australia. Only leggie Clarrie Grimmett has done it faster — in 28 matches in 1934. Cummins joins Dennis Lillee, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, all of whom reached the landmark in 31 Tests.
⦿ Josh Hazlewood became the 18th Australian bowler to claim 200 Test wickets. He was playing in his 52nd Test match.
⦿ Australia has now won all their eight Day-Night Tests — a 100% win percentage.

Mohandas Menon