Australia vs India: Cricket Revives in Adelaide After a Chaotic Year

Australia and India: An Epic Duel at Adelaide Oval

After a year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia and India prepare to face each other on the same stage where they began their last encounter in 2018: the prestigious Adelaide Oval. The view of the scoreboard and the emblematic Moreton Bay trees to the north of the field evoke the tradition of cricket, serving as a backdrop for the teams of 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 memorable, surpassing the expectations of previous encounters. The realization of this series in itself is an achievement, considering the challenges faced by both teams. From March to May, when the sport was interrupted, uncertainty about the series was palpable. Despite the goodwill between Cricket Australia and the BCCI, the obstacles were significant, mainly related to logistics and restrictions imposed by the pandemic. CA’s interim chief executive Nick Hockley and chairman Earl Eddings faced challenges in finding an entry point for the plane carrying the Indian team. Initially planned in Perth, the plan moved to Adelaide and then to Brisbane, before finally being embraced by Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government and the SCG Trust. Negotiations with the Queensland government were particularly tense. Even after the arrival of the Indians, there was a possibility that a Covid outbreak in Adelaide would alter the series. The Adelaide Oval was scheduled to host at least one Test, and possibly two, due to the prolonged lockdown in Melbourne. However, an outbreak in South Australia forced a rethink of the series start, considering a day/night Test at the MCG, followed by a traditional game starting December 26. Damian Hough, the curator of Adelaide Oval, has had to deal with rock concerts and changes in football matches, but this year he has prepared a playing field for a test match with a Christmas celebration as a prelude. “One thing we have learned with Covid is to live more in the present,” said Hough. “We like to plan months in advance. We still had plans, but we had to live in the moment a little more.”

The training sessions in the center of the field are shaping up as a competitive advantage for the Australian players 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.

Virat Kohli and Tim Paine are expected to face off later this year.“We’ve been very lucky to get to Adelaide early,” he 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 Test with the pink ball; you usually get it once a year. Sometimes with a Shield match, this time without one. So you’re learning on the go, in real time, when you go out on the field.” Kohli’s adaptation, who did not participate in the SCG warm-up match, will be crucial to the result in Adelaide. This match is Kohli’s only Test in the series, making it a unique event 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 each of the previous 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 actually, so let’s hope not, but when you play against players as good as Virat, sometimes they get away from you, that’s the game”.

Tim Paine

Paine, who values his Test career more than most after nearly retiring from cricket altogether in 2017, had no idea about “bubble fatigue” at this point, when asked if such considerations could shorten what remains of his time at the top of the game. “Absolutely not. To be honest, I love it,” Paine said. “I don’t think this hub has been as strict as maybe the IPL or the one in England. I sleep really well at night; 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.” 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 when many around the world remain confined by a pandemic.