Australia and India Face Off in Adelaide in a Historic Test Match
At the end of a year marked by Covid-19, Australia and India prepare for a new confrontation at the Adelaide Oval, the same venue where their previous series began in 2018. The familiar sight of the scoreboard and the Moreton Bay trees at the north end of the field evoke the tradition of Test cricket, and will serve 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 even more special than any other in their 20 years of constant contact. The series itself is an achievement, considering the circumstances.
Despite the financial influences driving the 12 Test series between Australia and India since 1999, everyone involved and the spectators have experienced moments of uncertainty about the realization of the series this year. The months of March, April and May, with the almost total absence of sporting events, raised doubts about the possibility of this encounter. Recently, the challenges focused on the organization of the series, despite the goodwill between Cricket Australia and the BCCI.
In a year where its leaders faced challenges with state associations, state governments and broadcasters, CA was grateful that India’s administrators and players did not raise significant issues about the tour. The obstacles for CA’s interim CEO, Nick Hockley, and chairman Earl Eddings, focused on finding an entry point for the charter plane carrying the visiting team.
Initially planned in Perth, the plan moved to Adelaide, then to Brisbane, before finally being secured by Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government and the SCG Trust. The negotiation with the Queensland government generated great uncertainty.
Even after the arrival of the Indians, there was a possibility that a Covid outbreak in Adelaide would alter the series. For a time, Adelaide Oval was scheduled to host at least one Test, possibly two, due to the prolonged lockdown in Melbourne. However, an outbreak in South Australia forced consideration of alternative scenarios, including a day/night Test at the MCG and a traditional game starting on December 26th.
Damian Hough, curator of the Adelaide Oval, who has managed rock concerts and sporting events, has prepared a Test Match pitch with a Christmas show as a prelude. “One thing we’ve learned with Covid is to live more in the present,” said Hough. “We have plans, but we must live in the moment.”
“We feel fortunate to be able to provide Australia with training in the center of the field on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, that was our only preparation, and it seemed to go very well, the feedback was positive. We have the recipe that seems to work… we simply stick to the game plan”.
Damian Hough
The sessions in the center of the field represent a competitive advantage for the Australians, something that Paine did not hesitate to highlight.Virat Kohli and Tim Paine could face each other on the field.
“We were lucky enough to get to Adelaide early,” Paine said. “We trained three nights in a row in the middle 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 pink ball Test; you normally get it once a year. Sometimes with a Shield game, this time without one. So you’re 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 for 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 an idea of what it’s like again. Revive your memory of last year, it will be a great advantage for us tomorrow.”
Kohli’s adaptation, who did not play in the warm-up match at the SCG, will be crucial. Furthermore, this is Kohli’s only Test in the series, before Ajinkya Rahane takes over the leadership for the remaining three games.
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. “There’s going to be a moment in this, well, there’s only one Test really, so hopefully he won’t, but when you play against players as good as Virat, sometimes they get away from you, that’s the game.”
“But we certainly have implemented plans that have worked well against him in the past; hopefully, they’ll work early enough this week, but if not, yes, we have a couple of different plans. The good thing about our attack is that they’re all different, we also have Nathan Lyon and now you put Greeny in, we have some different angles, some different speeds and obviously Nathan’s spin as well as Marnus’, so we have a lot of different options to bowl at him if he were to come in and settle.”
It’s refreshing to see tactical discussions and plans on the eve of a Test series, instead of Covid protocols, border restrictions and the financial impacts of the year. Paine, who appreciates his Test career more than most after nearly retiring from cricket altogether in 2017, didn’t feel “bubble fatigue”.
“Absolutely not. I love it, to be honest,” Paine said. “I don’t think this hub has been as strict as the IPL or the one in England. I sleep really well; my kids 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 in the hub might make me play longer, if anything.”
The events of 2020 have ensured that this latest chapter is as vivid as any sporting competition, at a time when many around the world remain confined by a pandemic.
