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The Brisbane Test against India was long shaped as being a walkover victory for Australia. Not any more. Australia have numerous issues, while India’s batsmen sent a resounding message in the thrilling first Test.
Granted, their sterling efforts came on an Adelaide pitch which is more similar to Indian conditions than any other on which they will play in this four-Test series. The concrete-like deck at the Gabba is alien by comparison.
The short ball was not a problem for the Indian batsmen on the sleepy Adelaide pitch, but Mitch Johnson and Ryan Harris will have the new cherry humming past their noses in Brisbane.
In the lead up to this series, it was hard to imagine how India would be able to manufacture a positive result at the Gabba. In fact, it was hard to imagine them not being vaporised by Australia’s pace battery in Brisbane.
Their courageous, determined and skilful efforts at Adelaide have changed all that. Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane all proved to themselves in this first Test that they could withstand Australia’s assault.
Their techniques against the sharply bouncing ball will still be tested fiercely at Brisbane. They should enter that battle, however, with a new level of confidence.
Pujara and Kohli are India’s two best and most important batsman yet they came into this series with bruised egos after being mauled by England’s quicks during their recent 3-1 loss in the UK.
The former found a multitude of ways to gift his wicket to England amid a return of 222 runs at 22 across the five-Test series.
It continued his unenviable habit of floundering away from home. Prior to this series, he had averaged 75 during 13 Tests in India compared to just 28 in his 11 matches on foreign soil.
Kohli, meanwhile, had a similar although less startling discrepancy between his home and away statistics. What’s more, his performance in England made Pujara’s look positively prolific.
Kohli made just 134 runs at an average of 13 – the second-worst return in history by a specialist batsman in a five-Test series.
Already under immense pressure he was then saddled with the Test captaincy due to MS Dhoni’s fitness concerns. The change of venue for the first Test prompted by the death of Phil Hughes meant Kohli would be able to start the series on a ground where he made his first Test century nearly three years ago.
Adelaide held warm memories for Kohli. Despite yesterday’s painfully narrow defeat, Kohli’s love for the ground has surely only deepened.
This was the turning point in his Test career, you sense. Blessed with extraordinary gifts which have seen him crush 21 ODI centuries by the age of 26, he has been a distinct underachiever in Tests.
That always seemed likely to end – he was too good a batsman to continue to average around 40. It was just a matter of when he would finally click.
If that didn’t occur during his first innings century here then it certainly did yesterday as he almost produced an unlikely come-from-behind victory for India.
It was a phenomenal innings. The entire Indian side will have fed off it. They will arrive in Brisbane believing they can win. And they can.
Partly because of the flow-on effect of their heroic effort in Adelaide and partly because, right now, Australia are a vulnerable side.
The Aussies will be without their inspirational skipper Michael Clarke, whose body is failing him. The man tipped to take the reins from him, Brad Haddin, is amid a shocking run of form, having averaged less than 10 with the bat over his past six Tests.
The positions of fellow veterans Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle and Shane Watson are also under scrutiny. Rogers’ returns have dipped sharply since last summer, Siddle has lacked penetration for the past 18 months and Watson is yet to bed down the number three spot.
Rogers, Watson and Haddin all look set to be given another crack at Brisbane, but Siddle surely cannot be picked again.
His past 14 Tests have seen him take only 34 wickets at the inflated average of 41. With Mitch Marsh showing he is capable of doing a holding role with the ball, Siddle’s role in the side is even less obvious.
Admittedly, the Adelaide deck was particularly benign as none of the pacemen in the match were incisive. But Siddle has been innocuous consistently for some time now.
With Australia needing to dent the newly-found confidence of the Indians at Brisbane, the hosts should be ultra-aggressive with their selections.
The Indian batsmen will be delighted if they get to face Siddle’s skiddy 130kmh offerings on a lively Gabba deck.
They would be fearful of encountering the likes of Mitchell Starc, a 197-centimetre left armer capable of sharp swing and disconcerting bounce at up to 150kmh.
Australia must get their selections right for Brisbane because India look unlikely to roll over.