A day that summed up the year 2020

It was a moment that summed up the year 2020. Because, until the moment Ajinkya Rahane realized that he had pushed the ball harder than he had imagined and sent Virat Kohli back, both India and Australia had shown a lot of patience. , tolerance and restriction with bat and ball respectively in the Adelaide Oval. Whether it was Australian fast bowlers and Nathan Lyon or India’s most veteran batsmen, the game on Thursday (December 17) up to that point had been about holding on, being disciplined, and not letting go. And then all it took was one careless mistake to turn it all wrong, as far as India is concerned anyway.

By changing his mind almost after the damage was done, Rahane had not only played a major role in eliminating his captain, but had also sparked an outbreak of panic in the Indian camp. It led the visitors to almost completely lose control of the game a day that they had somehow had better before the confusion. At 188 for 3 on what many have referred to as the most sanitized field we’ve seen for a pink ball test at the Adelaide Oval with Rahane and Kohli, there was still exactly the kind of rig India was looking for after winning the shake-up. . Then, as we’ve seen for most of the year, one led two led three in terms of casualties, and before long India was reeling with just Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin and the tail to come.

Here’s a statistic to just put the kind of day we witnessed at the Adelaide Oval in perspective. Kohli attempted thoroughbred cover against spikers on all but one occasion, that too with the 145 ball he faced overall. However, Josh Hazlewood’s shot, relatively complete, went straight to the covering fielder. The Indian captain had already made his way to 54 by then. He had also been extremely cautious in the way he had dealt with the Australians’ short-range ploy, only rarely even attempting to throw shots at them. In fact, he was consciously trying to roll his wrists down on his shooting shots to make sure they didn’t fly off that sometimes looked like a two-handed hit on a tennis court.

At the other end, Pujara had closed his end, as he usually does especially on Australian soil, and aside from a couple of early flirtations he seemed more than happy to quarantine himself in the middle of the Adelaide Oval. It led to passages of play that might not have been ideal for recruiting a new sports fan, but were certainly ingrained in the very fabric of test cricket that makes it so appealing to the genuine fan already on board.

Australian sprinters, Hazlewood and Pat Cummins in particular, ensured that Indian hitters had no choice but to open the shutters for much of their innings. Not only were they accurate in terms of their lines and lengths, but they also used everything the pitch had to offer, which was mostly a sizable bounce, largely to keep the Indians honest. They were ably supported by rookie Cameron Green, who also followed suit, and got the Indians to jump a few times with his swift long delivery back. The plan seemed pretty straightforward once the lacquer on the pink ball started to wear off. It was based on playing with the patience of the Indians and causing them to make a mistake. That was before Lyon came to weave a tighter web.

Kohli seemed to be in his zone literally from the moment he arrived at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday morning. You could see it in the way he was during fielding drills. There were bullet-like throws that went to fielding coach R Sridhar and also a couple of smart catches on the second slip. You could also see it in his eyes.

He then proceeded to spend a restless 45 minutes as Pujara and Mayank Agarwal readied themselves against the new ball. Kohli faced virtually every pitch those two had, and even shadow hitting every few seconds. It was during an intriguing period of play that Agarwal and Pujara attempted to rebuild.

It wasn’t long after Kohli’s arrival at the center for Lyon to step into the attack. The Australian off-spinner is no stranger to Kohli and Pujara nor they to him. And he quickly set about his task of tying up the Indians even more. He kept moving things for both hitters, Kohli in particular, giving himself a middle fielder in the middle of the boundary lines and a medium deep wicket. He also consistently played with his near field, especially Pujara, putting the silly point in place before the Australians come under fire for being too defensive. Meanwhile, it was becoming more obvious that Kohli was totally enthralled by the battle in the middle.

It has been a year in which they have encouraged us with good reasons to get closer, talk and get to know those around us much better. That is exactly what Kohli and Lyon seemed to be doing not only during that period, but throughout their entire stay in between.

Everything seemed to be in a good mood and from a distance it seemed that it had to do with what Lyon was distributing with the ball. The two not only indulged each other as they faced off, but also had numerous conversations while Kohli was at the end of the non-forward. “I know you’ll love it,” Kohli told Lyon at one point as they walked away, still communicating, for a drink.

Kohli had mentioned in her television talk with Steve Smith how long she had known Matthew Wade, having met the two during a youth cricket camp more than a decade ago. And from what the two of them talked about Thursday, I would have thought they’d caught up.

Pujara’s firing brought in Ajinkya Rahane and, as he has done so many times in the past, the No. 5 ended up taking a lot of pressure off Kohli. That was especially true in the early stages of the third session when Rahane began to force the pace against Lyon. There was an elegant coverage campaign followed by a firm sweep to mark the boundaries. That led to Kohli playing arguably his best shot of the day, leading Lyon inside out through the covers for four. However, he did nothing to dominate his talk.

The Kohli-Rahane partnership as it has in the past in Australia began to worry the local captain, who now had to keep finding ways not only to get rid of them, but also to stop their burgeoning progress. And after a few more changes of pace, Lyon came in from the end of the field cathedral, which he doesn’t often do. He also ended up having to try his luck from the wicket to Kohli, now with 178 balls in his shot. Unfortunately we were never able to see the impact of the angle change.

When day turned to night and there were just over 14 overs to go, the Indians appeared to be breaking their shackles. And moving towards a phase of fewer restrictions and much more freedom in the middle as the field began to expand. But at that point, Rahane had a brain blackout that led to that big mistake and India was forced to return to her previous blocking state at the Adelaide Oval.