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Key takeaways from India’s Adelaide win

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Roar Rookie
12th December, 2018
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The first match in the summer Test series between Australia and India was an intense contest from which the visitors emerged victorious – but only just.

The match had so many twists and turns that viewers would have chewed off all their nails. There was a hundred, a few fifties, a five-wicket haul, disciplined bowling and an unlikely comeback win.

Before the second Test starts this Friday, these are a few takeaways from India’s famous win at the Adelaide Oval.

Pujara is still the man

Anybody who follows cricket knows Cheteshwar Pujara’s value to this Indian side. Legendary analyst Ian Chappel recently rated him as the most ideal No.3 for India and compared him to Rahul Dravid.

In Adelaide it was Pujara who emerged as the biggest cause of the Indian win. To sum up, as Australian captain Tim Paine said, “He just doesn’t give you any chance”.

Pujara let go of the balls outside off stump, did not chase many drives or cuts, pounced on loose deliveries and was the best batsman of the Test.

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Temperament and a cool head is needed in tricky conditions; Pujara has both. He could have been given out to Josh Hazlewood in the first innings at 83, but fortune favoured the brave.

In this Test, he reached 5000 Test runs. Now second to Virat Kohli in this team in terms of career runs, Pujara is having a mixed year with the bat.

However, his importance is highlighted by his performance in India’s away wins this calendar year – he’s the only Indian batsman to have scored 50-plus runs in those three away victories (50 at Johannesburg against South Africa in the first innings, 72 against England at Trent Bridge in second innings, 123 and 71 at Adelaide against Australia).

Before this series, he had scored only 201 runs in six innings with one 50-plus score at under 34 against Australia.

However, if Pujara maintains his form, it can be him and not Kohli around whom Indians build their batting.

(AP Photo/James Elsby)

Nathan Lyon, the MVP
Nathan Lyon keeps on smiling. While Cheteshwar Pujara and India’s bowlers stood tall in Adelaide, Lyon nearly won it for Australia.

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He seemed effective from Day 1 and finished the first innings with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant. His attacking unbeaten 24 let India take a lead of just 15 runs.

However, it was in India’s second innings that Lyon was the most effective.

He took out India’s entire middle order and registered six wickets before scoring an unbeaten 38 in the second innings and nearly taking Australia home to a heroic win.

Lyon was always going to be an important bowler for Australia in this series. However, if not for Pujara, Nathan Lyon could have scored Australia a 1-0 lead.

Being Australia’s most successful off-spinner, his teammates call him the GOAT, the greatest of all time.

Albeit, with 326 wickets, Lyon is still a little under 400 wickets away from Shane Warne’s all-time Australian record.

He may or may not really be Australia’s GOAT by the time he retires, but his knack for wicket-taking coupled with his much-improved batting thanks to training under the tutelage of his brother has made him the most valuable player of this Australian side.

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(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Aaron Finch and the need for a batting anchor
Top or middle-order fragility has characterised Australia’s batting since the Newlands scandal. This theme was repeated at the Adelaide Test.

Australia’s top and middle-order registered one 50-plus score in each innings – Travis Head (62) and Shaun Marsh (60).

Since David Warner and Steven Smith’s bans, Australia have lacked an anchor in their first six. Batsmen have not performed to their potential or have been inconsistent.

At the Adelaide Oval Travis Head failed to find a partner to build the first innings, and in the second innings, Tim Paine and the Australian bowlers added around 150 runs.

If Marsh could have struck a partnership with one of the top-order batsmen, Australia could have chased down the 300-plus target.

One of the things discussed during the coverage of the first Test was that Australia may open with Usman Khawaja in Perth and demote Aaron Finch to middle order to bring some solidity.

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Speaking of Finch, he needs to assume the role of an experienced batsman and contribute better to this Australian Test side.

His debut 50 was followed by a 49 in the second innings. Since then he has scored two 30s, an unsettled 11 and a duck in his four Test innings.

Between the second Test against Pakistan and first Test against India, his 11 innings had four single-digit scores and two 11s.

His first innings shot was abysmal, but he had a reprieve early on in the second inning.

Ian Chappell has said Finch is the Australian player under maximum pressure going into Perth Test.

Ricky Ponting raised questions over his spot in Australia’s team. Finally, Kerry O’Keefe expects Finch not to keep his place in the coming Ashes tour in August.

With recent failures and questions being raised over his position, Aaron Finch should justify his place and talent by emerging as an anchor is this team’s top and middle order.

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Otherwise, time may be up on his Test career.

Aaron Finch

(Daniel Kalisz – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images)

Can India’s pace attack win the Perth Test?
In Adelaide, there was a daylight between the effectiveness of Nathan Lyon and Australia’s pace battery.

On the other hand, India’s bowlers performed in a group where Ravichandran Ashwin was nicely partnered by Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.

India’s pace bowlers boast imperious figures in 2018.

They have taken the most wickets in the world this calendar year at 146, and 91 of them have been of top or middle-order opposition batsmen.

Their strike rate of 47.3 is third in the world behind the West Indies and South Africa, while their average of 24.15 is better than New Zealand, Australia and England.

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With Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, Australia have one of the most potent pace attacks in the world.

However, if the first Test is anything to go by, India’s quickies extracted better from the pitch and conditions.

This year has been something special for India’s fast bowlers.

After their exploits in the first Test of 14 wickets among them, it will be interesting to see if they carry their rich form to Perth, the Mecca of fast bowling, and lead India to glory.

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India’s middle-order problems continue
One of the woeful characteristics of the Indian team recently has been their inability to perform with the lower-middle and lower order while batting, or perform with the ball against an opposition’s lower-middle and lower order – especially in away conditions.

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This calendar year, India have lost six Tests away from home. They have constantly struggled to get through the lower-middle and lower order of the opposition batsmen.

In England, Sam Curran stood out while in South Africa, it was Vernon Philander.

Similar things happened at the Adelaide Oval, when Australia’s No.7 through No.11 added around 150 runs, more than half of Australia’s total of 291, and brought them within 30 runs of a famous victory.

A similar pattern is occurring in India’s batting.

While the first innings proved to be an exception, with Pujara’s brilliant 100 leading the tail, it was worse in the second innings when India lost their last four wickets for four runs.

Barring the Lord’s humiliation, none of the other five away losses this year happened by more than 150 runs.

In South Africa or England, nobody barring Kohli could get the job done, and India’s lower and middle-lower order crumbled like a house of cards.

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In Adelaide, India won by the skin of their teeth.

They must be able to add a few valuable runs from their lower-middle and lower order and quickly take out Australia’s lower-middle and lower order if they want to continue winning in this series.

Mohammed Shami

(Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Prospects of an exciting, evenly matched series
This Test series started with both teams being equally tipped to win.

While the Indian team looked more settled, the bowling attack of Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon gave Australia the edge.

Both sides had their moments, appeared equally matched and, after a million twists and turns, were separated by some individual brilliance.

A mere 31 runs were the difference between these two sides, and it must be argued that this small margin aptly summarised traded sessional victories across the five days.

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Both teams have their strengths and their own headaches.

Australia need to fire as a team with the bat and complement Lyon, while India needs to find solutions to their lower-middle and lower-order woes.

This four-match Test series promises to be a very evenly matched and exciting contest.

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