Australia vs India: Cricket Resurfaces in Adelaide After Chaotic Year

Australia and India: A Cricket Classic in Times of Pandemic

In a year marked by the Covid-19 crisis, Australia and India face each other again at the Adelaide Oval, the same venue that hosted their 2018 encounter. The presence of the iconic scoreboard and the Moreton Bay trees at the northern end of the field evoke the tradition of test cricket, serving as a backdrop for the teams led by Tim Paine and Virat Kohli in the first day/night Test for India away from home. This encounter between two of the most powerful cricket nations promises to be more special than any other in the last 20 years, since they began a series of almost constant clashes. The very realization of the series is a triumph in itself.

Despite the financial forces that have driven India and Australia to contest at least 12 test series since 1999, all participants and spectators experienced moments of uncertainty about the possibility of the series taking place.

During the difficult months of March, April and May, when the sports world came to a standstill, the possibility of the series not taking place was a constant concern. Recently, the challenges focused on the obstacles to organizing the series, although there was goodwill between Cricket Australia and the BCCI. In a year in which its leaders have faced battles with state associations, state governments and rights broadcasters, CA was grateful that India’s administrators and players never raised significant issues about the tour. The challenges for CA’s interim CEO, Nick Hockley, and chairman Earl Eddings, centered on finding a point of entry for the charter plane carrying the visiting team. Initial plans to land in Perth were moved to Adelaide, then to Brisbane, before finally being embraced by Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government, and the SCG Trust. Anxiety levels were high during a long and ultimately unsuccessful negotiation with the Queensland government. Even after the arrival of the Indians, there was a possibility that a Covid outbreak in Adelaide would disrupt the series. For a long time, the Adelaide Oval was going to host at least one and possibly two test matches, given the extent of the lockdown that Melbourne faced for most of the year, which kept a cloud over Boxing Day until October. But the outbreak that forced a hard but brief lockdown in South Australia caused contingencies to be overturned to begin the test series with a day/night Test at the MCG and then continue with a more traditional game from December 26 onwards. All these permutations were at the forefront of the mind of Adelaide Oval curator Damian Hough, who has dealt with rock concerts and football match schedule changes in the past, but this year has prepared a test match pitch with a Christmas parade instead of Sheffield Shield matches as a prelude.

“One thing we’ve learned with Covid is to be more in the present,” Hough said. “We like to plan months in advance. We still had plans, but we had to live a little more in the moment,” he said. “[A U2 concert last year] was a much bigger challenge than what we are going through this year. I never thought I would see a Christmas parade at the Adelaide Oval, so it’s a unique year.”

Damian Hough

“We are fortunate enough to be able to give Australia training in the center of the field on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so that was our only preparation, and it seemed to go really well, the feedback was positive. We have the recipe that seems to work… we just stick to the game plan.” More than anything else, those sessions in the middle of the field are shaping up as an invaluable competitive advantage for the members of the Australian team who arrived before those who played for Australia A against the Indians on a different surface at the SCG, something Paine did not hesitate to affirm.

Paine commented: “We have been very lucky to get to Adelaide early. We trained three nights in a row in the middle of the field at the Adelaide Oval, which I think will be a big advantage for our team. It’s the most difficult thing about the Test with the pink ball; 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.” “To try to adapt to the conditions that are so strange to us, with the lights on and a pink ball. So it’s strange. But we have managed to have three nights in the middle of the field at the Adelaide Oval, which has been fantastic for our group, batsmen and bowlers, to get a feel for what it’s like again. It revives your memory of last year, it’s going to be a big advantage for us starting tomorrow.” Kohli’s adjustment, who didn’t even play in the warm-up match at the SCG, will be as critical as any other factor for the result in Adelaide. It will also be accentuated by the fact that this is Kohli’s only test match for the series, making it an even more unique event before Ajinkya Rahane takes over the captaincy for the remaining three matches.