Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon – clearly one of Australia’s best bowling attacks ever, with an incredible 1,443 wickets between them. And yet, in the last 10 years, they haven’t beaten India in a Test series. Each of them played the 2018-19 and 2020-21 series, and they all played in Perth. Each time, they finished second-best. So, while we accept that Australia beat India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the 50-over World Cup final, it is also true that India have consistently had the better of them in bilateral Test series.
Adelaide and the pink-ball Test will perhaps be the last roll of the dice for this Australian bowling line-up. They know the conditions well, and have played much more with the pink ball than India have. They will also remember the 36 all out and try and take inspiration from it. They also know, however, that India have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, along with Harshit Rana or Akash Deep, and if they don’t bowl and bat well, there could be another disaster on the horizon.
Much more than a one-off WTC win, a five-match Test series will always rank higher in the pecking order. In alien conditions, a team have to be at their best over a two-month period to win an away series. That’s what India have been able to do for the last decade. And that’s what will haunt Cummins and co. The pressure, may i say, is squarely on Australia.
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Perth, as Gideon Haigh said, was the most alien of conditions for India. Australia had planned it in a manner that they’d go 2-0 up by Brisbane, and India would be demoralised. However, the Perth punch has left them stunned. And Adelaide, as I said, is their only chance. Another loss, and India would know the series is within touching distance. Mentally, the Aussies would be further scarred and a comeback would be near-impossible.
In every way, the pink-ball Test is massive for Australia. While India now have room to manoeuvre, Australia have their backs to the wall. They can’t afford another failure, and that’s why it will be all about pressure. Can the bowling unit step up in Adelaide and soak up the pressure? Can they push the Indian batters twice and make sure that their own fragile batting has some cushion? Can they breach the defence of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul? Can Starc come up with something special?
India know that two more days of excellent cricket will open the door to a series win. Fissures will appear, and Australia could well disintegrate. And to produce these two days of excellent cricket, they will want to use the Canberra game starting on November 30 really well. Akash Deep or Harshit? Where will Rohit Sharma bat? Plenty of questions will be answered in this game, and it could very well set things up for Adelaide.
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