Australia vs India: Cricket Classic in Adelaide, post-COVID challenge

Australia and India Face Off in Adelaide: A Classic in Times of Pandemic

In a year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia and India prepare for a new confrontation at the Adelaide Oval, the scene of their 2018 encounter. The iconic scoreboard and the Moreton Bay trees at the north end of the field offer a sense of continuity, an emblematic backdrop for Tim Paine and Virat Kohli’s teams in the first day/night Test for India away from home. This encounter between two of cricket’s most powerful nations promises to be memorable, especially after a year full of uncertainty. Influential financial forces have driven Australia and India to contest 12 Test series since 1999, a number similar to the Ashes series that Australia has played against England in the same period. In the difficult months of March, April and May, when sport was practically suspended, the possibility of this series not taking place was real. Despite the goodwill between Cricket Australia and the BCCI, the logistical challenges were significant. The main concern for CA’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley and chairman Earl Eddings was finding a point of entry for the charter plane carrying the Indian team. Initial plans to land in Perth were amended to Adelaide and then to Brisbane, before Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government and the SCG Trust finally took over. Even after the arrival of the Indians, a Covid outbreak in Adelaide could have disrupted the series. For a long time, the Adelaide Oval was scheduled to host at least one and possibly two test matches, given the extensive lockdown Melbourne faced for most of the year. The Adelaide Oval curator, Damian Hough, has prepared a pitch for a test match with a Christmas parade instead of Sheffield Shield games as a prelude. “What we’ve learned with Covid is to live more in the present,” said Hough. “We had plans, but we had to live in the moment a bit more.” Practice sessions in the center of the field are shaping up as an invaluable competitive advantage for the members of the Australian team who arrived earlier than those who played for Australia A against the Indians on a different surface at the SCG, something Paine did not hesitate to affirm.

Title of the publication: It is looking increasingly hopeful that Virat Kohli and Tim Paine will go head-to-head later this year Paine highlighted the importance of training in the center of the Adelaide Oval field, which he considers a significant advantage for his team. “It’s the most difficult thing about the pink ball Test; you usually have it once a year. Sometimes with a Shield game, this time without one. So you’re practically learning on the go, in real time, when you go out on the field.” Kohli’s adaptation, who did not participate in the practice match at the SCG, will be crucial for the result in Adelaide. Furthermore, this will be Kohli’s only test match in the series, before Ajinkya Rahane takes over the leadership in the remaining three matches. With players like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon, the Australians have succeeded in dismissing Kohli early in the last two series. However, Kohli has shown that he can damage even the most formidable attack.

“Everyone has big plans to get the best players out, don’t they?, but that’s why they’re the best, they can adapt, they can change with what you’re doing, and Virat is certainly one of the best players, if not the best player in the world”, Paine said.

Tim Paine

Paine also mentioned that the team has different strategies prepared, highlighting the diversity of their attack and the importance of having players like Nathan Lyon and Marnus to vary angles and speeds. In the midst of tactical discussions and preparations for the series, Paine, who values his cricket career more than most, does not perceive bubble fatigue. “I love it, to be honest,” Paine said. “I don’t think this training center has been as strict as the IPL or England’s. I sleep very well at night; my children are at home, which is good in a way, but I certainly miss them. But I sleep better here and feel fresher here than at home, so life at the training center might make me play longer in any case.” While in recent years there has been some fatigue due to the frequency of encounters between India and Australia, the events of 2020 have ensured that this latest chapter is as vivid as any sporting competition, especially at a time when many around the world remain confined due to the pandemic.