Australia vs India: Test in Adelaide, a respite after the 2020 chaos

Australia and India Clash in Adelaide in a Historic Test Match

After a year marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia and India prepare for a new confrontation at the Adelaide Oval, the same venue where their previous series began in 2018. The image of the scoreboard and the Moreton Bay trees at the north end of the field evoke the tradition of cricket, creating a special atmosphere for Tim Paine and Virat Kohli’s teams 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, especially after a year full of uncertainty. Influential financial forces have driven India and Australia to contest 12 Test series since 1999, a number comparable to Australia’s Ashes series against England in the same period. The realization of this series is an achievement in itself, considering the challenges faced by Cricket Australia and the BCCI. During the months of March, April and May, when the world of sport was paralyzed, the possibility of this series not taking place was a real concern. Recently, the obstacles focused on how to organize the series, despite the goodwill between Cricket Australia and the BCCI. CA leaders faced challenges with state associations, state governments and rights issuers. The main challenge for CA’s interim CEO, Nick Hockley, and chairman Earl Eddings, was finding an entry point for the charter plane carrying the visiting team. Initial plans to land in Perth were moved to Adelaide, then to Brisbane, before Sydney, Canberra, the New South Wales government and the SCG Trust were finally decided upon. Negotiations with the Queensland government were tense and ultimately unsuccessful.

Even after the arrival of the Indians, there was a possibility that a Covid outbreak in Adelaide would alter the series. For a long time, the Adelaide Oval was scheduled to host at least one Test, possibly two, due to the prolonged lockdown in Melbourne. However, the outbreak in South Australia forced the implementation of measures that included the possibility of starting the series with a day/night Test at the MCG.

The Adelaide Oval curator, Damian Hough, has had to adapt to rock concerts and changes in football matches, but this year he has focused on preparing a pitch for a Test match with a festive Christmas atmosphere. “One thing we’ve learned with Covid is to live 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.” Hough added: “We were 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 very well, the feedback was positive. We have the recipe that seems to work… we just stick to the game plan.” These center-wicket training sessions represent 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 that Paine highlighted.

Virat Kohli and Tim Paine

Paine commented: “We have been very lucky to get to Adelaide early. We trained three nights in a row in the middle of the Adelaide Oval pitch, which I think will be a big advantage for our team. It’s the most difficult thing about a pink-ball Test; you normally 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.” The Australian captain continued: “We try to adapt to conditions that are so foreign 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 Adelaide Oval pitch, 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 will be a big advantage for us tomorrow.” Kohli’s adaptation, who didn’t even play in the warm-up match at the SCG, will be crucial. Furthermore, this is Kohli’s only Test match 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 the last two series. However, if they manage to get past that phase, Kohli has shown that he can be dangerous even for the most formidable attacks.

“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 undoubtedly one of the best players, if not the best player in the world,” Paine said. “There will be a time in this, well, there’s really only one Test, so I hope not, but when you play against players as good as Virat, sometimes they get away from you, that’s just the game.”

Tim Paine

Paine added: “We certainly have plans that have worked well against him in the past; hopefully they 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 are all different, we also have Nathan Lyon and now you add Greeny, we have some different angles, some different speeds and, obviously, Nathan’s spin, as well as Marnus’, so we have many different options to bowl at him if he were to come in and settle”. It’s refreshing to discuss tactics and plans on the eve of a Test series, rather than Covid protocols, border restrictions and the financial impacts of the year. Paine, who values his Test career more than most after nearly retiring from cricket altogether in 2017, doesn’t feel “bubble fatigue” at the moment. Paine expressed: “Absolutely not. I love it, to be honest. I don’t think this center has been as strict as the IPL or the one in England. I’m sleeping very well; 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 center might make me play longer in any case.” The events of 2020 have ensured that this latest chapter is as vivid as any sporting competition, as many around the world remain confined by a pandemic.