Australia vs India: A Cricket Classic in Times of Crisis

Australia and India: An Epic Duel in Times of Covid-19

In a year marked by the pandemic, Australia and India face each other in the same scenario where their previous encounter began in 2018: the Adelaide Oval. The view of the scoreboard and the Moreton Bay trees provide a sense of essential continuity in Test cricket, serving as a backdrop for Tim Paine and Virat Kohli’s teams in India’s first day/night Test away from home. This encounter between two of the most powerful cricket nations promises to be memorable, surpassing the expectations of the last 20 years of constant contact. The realization of the series itself is a remarkable achievement. Despite the influential financial forces that have driven India and Australia to play 12 Test series since 1999, all participants and spectators experienced moments of uncertainty about the realization of the series due to the global situation. In the difficult months of March, April and May, when sport practically stopped, the possibility of the series not happening was considered. Recently, the obstacles to carrying out the series focused on logistics, despite the goodwill existing between Cricket Australia and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The challenges for CA’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley and chairman Earl Eddings centered on finding an entry point for the charter plane carrying the team. Initial plans to land in Perth were modified, first to Adelaide and then to Brisbane, before Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government and the SCG Trust took over. Negotiations with the Queensland government were tense. 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 going to host at least one and possibly two Tests, given the prolonged quarantine Melbourne faced for most of the year, which kept uncertainty over the Boxing Day Test until October. The Adelaide Oval curator, Damian Hough, has had to deal with rock concerts and changes to football matches in the past, but this year he prepared a pitch for a Test match with a Christmas parade 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 in the moment a little more,” he said.

Damian Hough

Practice sessions in the center of the court are a competitive advantage for Australian players, something that Paine did not hesitate to highlight.

Title of the post: It is increasingly hopeful that Virat Kohli and Tim Paine will face each other later this year. “We were very lucky to get to Adelaide early,” he commented. “We trained three nights in a row in the center of the pitch 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 get it once a year. Sometimes with a Shield match, this time without one. So you’re practically learning on the go, in real time, when you go out on the field.”