Adelaide Test: How Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill loosened India’s grip with two indecisive knocks on day one | Cricket News
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Adelaide Test: How Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill loosened India’s grip with two indecisive knocks on day one | Cricket News

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

Shubman Gill was eating a banana when Virat Kohli took the bat as there was a brief delay as the third umpire checked the validity of the catch that sent off KL Rahul. Soon both lost their wickets due to mini-brain fades and India faltered on the slippery Adelaide surface. Those two wickets made the difference between the side that took control of the game on the opening day in Adelaide and now waited for their bowlers to cause another prison break.

It was a strange little innings from Virat Kohli. Australia’s plan against him was simple and obvious. His answer was not. They had two back points and a gully for him and Scott Boland pushed a long ball wide outside off stump. He still hadn’t finished, it was the fourth ball he faced and he went hunting. Not surprisingly, it flew over the edge but somehow missed both point fielders. It was a moment as if the fallow years of the recent past with this kind of line had never existed. As if there weren’t two backward points. Over the years, his philosophy when preparing for a game has been to not give in to self-doubt. His pregame visualizations would suggest he’s pinging the gaps and not rushing to the catchers. But when the running tap ran out, he had to put one thing aside above all else, and that was chasing deliveries that were too far out. And he did. Perhaps the Perth Hundred had revived his confidence and wanted to prevail against the Australians. Perhaps.

A few tosses later, Boland got closer to the off-stump and Kohli unleashed a confident extra-cover drive for three runs. Across the border, a large Indian flag flew in the stands. At this point, India were comfortably at 77 from 2 out of 20 overs.

Mitchell Starc’s first delivery in the next over was a regular angler from left-back. On a length, sliding towards the keeper; a relatively straightforward ball. But Kohli was in the mood to make a fuss. His intention so far has been to hit the ball. At that moment he was caught up in two thoughts: go or play. There was no width like the first Boland delivery he had tracked. There was no incoming line like there was on the second Boland delivery he had pushed through the covers. And he decided to pull his bat back from the line but a little too late and the edge was deflected by Steve Smith at second slip. Kohli took one look at the pitch, one look at his bat as he trotted back.

Six balls later it was Gill’s turn. It was a pretty full performance from Boland, who showcased his talent for hitting the ideal line and length throughout the day. There was no real poison in the ball, but the length was slightly unusual than the norm from Boland, who had generally hit the deck.

During his innings, Gill had employed a simple technique: a back-and-across press that would take him almost around the off- and middle-stump line; From there he would either push forward or stay there to block or punch. He had played a lot of great shots: the short-arm jab through point, the on-the-up-off drive and a great extra cover drive from Starc. There was also some looseness on display, particularly on the attempted slice drives through the tip that caught the edge but tumbled through empty space a few times.

On this rather full ball from Boland he was almost at the off-stump line and for some reason it went completely over the line. He could have closed the gaps in the V off-side, but he made a very casual-looking shot, playing around the ball and getting caught with the left side of his body in front of the stumps.

Even the dismissal of KL Rahul before these two went against the flow of the game. India were well on 69/1 after Rahul recovered from being caught behind by a no-ball and a dropped catch from Usman Khawaja, both in Boland’s first over. A ball that bounced a little in Starc’s off-stump corridor confused him and the resulting push was very cleverly intercepted by a leaping Nathan McSweeney at backward point.

But it was the two subsequent dismissals that hurt India the most. Suddenly India were 81 for 4 at the lunch break and never seemed to be in control at the resumption, while Australia started targeting the stumps more and letting the pink ball sniff around a bit. India lost momentum.

Jasprit Bumrah and Co. couldn’t quite pull off the Perth trick again. They didn’t allow Australia to get off to an overwhelming start, but they also didn’t attack them sufficiently. Even Bumrah was a little short or out of bounds, and openers Usman Khawaja and McSweeney could walk or tap out. Sure, there were a few misses, but that was to be expected with the pink ball under lights.

But perhaps the biggest mistake of the day was the two unconvincing half shots from two batsmen who should have known better. And their pained faces as they walked back said they knew it too. Sometimes things go like this.

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