The faithful, who congregated at the Adelaide Oval, relished the local hero’s exploits. Travis Head, back in his city, and against a familiar rival, turned on his aggressive mode. The southpaw’s blistering hundred held Australia in good stead as the second Test swung the host’s way in Adelaide on Saturday (December 7, 2024).

If Head’s 137 derailed India in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup final at Ahmedabad, the latest 140 at his home ground, could help Australia spring back in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, in which Pat Cummins and his men trail at 0-1. At close on the second day, after Australia scored 337 in its first innings and gained a 157-run lead, India wobbled at 128 for five in the second innings and trails by 29 runs.

K.L. Rahul tried to pull one down the leg-side off Cummins and feathered the ball straight to Alex Carey. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill found the odd four but the former succumbed to Scott Boland’s nagging accuracy with Carey’s gloves again coming into play.

The same pacer-keeper combine got the better of Virat Kohli and when Mitchell Starc scattered Gill’s stumps, it was left to Rishabh Pant’s chutzpah to lend some cheer to the Indian fans. Pant often toppled over while scooping Boland over third-man and fine-leg while skipper Rohit Sharma after surviving a Starc questionnaire, lost his citadel to Cummins.

Earlier in an afternoon of bright skies and persistent breeze, Australia resumed at the overnight 86 for one. Opener Nathan McSweeney retreated in the day’s third over as Jasprit Bumrah bowled tighter lines and found his desserts. If McSweeney nibbled at one close to the off-stump, Steve Smith wafted at a ball down the leg-side and in both instances, Pant’s gloves were waiting.

Bumrah’s morning spell of 4-1-10-2 offered hope but the roar that greeted Head on his arrival, seemed to be a premonition of a dreary outing for the visitors. With Marnus Labuschagne being the eager beaver, and Head the marauder, Harshit Rana felt the scalding heat of the Aussie willows. The seamer lost his radar and the two batters cashed in.

R. Ashwin stepped in and Head, ever keen to mark his territory, hoisted a six. And Labuschagne motored towards his 50. The 65-run fourth-wicket partnership ended when Labuschagne slashed at Nitish Kumar and found a leaping Jaiswal. Australia 168 for four and perhaps nursing a good appetite ahead of the break.

After the intermission, Ashwin got one past Mitchell Marsh’s bat and the batter instantly walked. Meanwhile, Head punched, slashed, pulled and stepped out too, while Carey and Cummins played the supporting roles. After hoisting Ashwin for a six, Head’s repeat-act swivelled high but Mohammed Siraj could not hold on.

Having savoured the reprieve, Head charged towards his ton and the stands were agog with excitement. India pulled back through the new-ball and Siraj castled Head but the seamer’s obnoxious send-off to the centurion evoked boos from the audience. By then Head had set Australia on a good platform.

Scoreboard

India – 1st innings: 180 in 44.1 overs.

Australia – 1st innings: Usman Khawaja c Rohit b Bumrah 13 (35b, 2×4), Nathan McSweeney c Pant b Bumrah 39 (109b, 6×4), Marnus Labuschagne c Jaiswal b Nitish 64 (126b, 9×4), Steve Smith c Pant b Bumrah 2 (11b), Travis Head b Siraj 140 (141b, 17×4, 4×6), Mitchell Marsh c Pant b Ashwin 9 (26b, 1×4), Alex Carey c Pant b Siraj 15 (32b), Pat Cummins b Bumrah 12 (22b, 2×4), Mitchell Starc c Harshit b Siraj 18 (15b, 3×4), Nathan Lyon (not out) 4 (6b), Scott Boland b Siraj 0 (9b). Extras (b-13, lb-1, nb-7): 21

Total (all out in 87.3 overs): 337.

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Khawaja, 10.6 overs), 2-91 (McSweeney, 36.1), 3-103 (Smith, 40.1), 4-168 (Labuschagne, 54.3), 5-208 (Marsh, 63.4), 6-282 (Carey, 76.6), 7-310 (Head, 81.4), 8-332 (Cummins, 84.6), 9-332 (Starc, 85.1).

India bowling: Bumrah 23-5-61-4, Siraj 24.3-5-98-4, Harshit 16-2-86-0, Nitish 6-2-25-1, R. Ashwin 18-4-53-1.

India – 2nd innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal c Carey b Boland 24 (31b, 4×4), K.L. Rahul c Carey b Cummins 7 (10b, 1×4), Shubman Gill b Starc 28 (30b, 3×4), Virat Kohli c Carey b Boland 11 (21b, 1×4), Rishabh Pant (batting) 28 (25b, 5×4), Rohit Sharma b Cummins 6 (15b, 1×4), Nitish Kumar (batting) 15 (14b, 3×4). Extras (b-5, lb-2, nb-5): 9.

Total (for five wkts., in 24 overs): 128.

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Rahul, 3.5 overs), 2-42 (Jaiswal, 8.1), 3-66 (Kohli, 14.3), 4-86 (Gill, 17.2), 5-105 (Rohit, 20.5).

Australia bowling: Starc 9-0-49-1, Cummins 8-0-33-2, Boland 7-0-39-2.

Team India begin practice session for the pink ball Test in Adelaide from December 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

In cricket, Indian players are the rock stars. A routine pre-game training session at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday (December 3, 2024), acquired a festival air as nearly 3000 fans thronged the venue, lending their full-throated acoustics as an accompaniment to the thwack of the pink ball thudding into an eager bat. As Sania Mirza once said about Indian fandom, truly ‘we are so many of us!’

Camera-phones got busy, photos taken, calls made, social media was spammed and cries of ‘Kohli’ and ‘Rohit’ rent the air. Seemingly immune to this external noise, the cricketers got down to the business of sweating it out while the venue’s guards were perplexed at all this attention. There was a scramble for space around the nets before a tiny area was earmarked for the media.

The coffee shop quickly ran out of food and beverages, while snatches of Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil and Kannada were heard in the background. Be it Aaron Finch in 2019 or Pat Cummins now, all Australian captains have spoken about how they are all used to this overwhelming Indian presence across the globe. It was the turn of the Adelaide Oval to reiterate this truth.

Initially the fans were stumped as Rohit and Rishabh Pant turned in an hour early and sought their quiet time. All it needed was for a few to spot them and then the rush began. One youngster moved to the side of the net and said: “Hello Rohit.” The skipper politely told the intrusive follower to move further away and watch. The batters then got into their groove, and swapped their sessions against throw-downs and regular bowlers.

Rohit asked his friend and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar about his impressions. The latter spoke about some changes spotted in the former’s initial trigger movement. Rohit clarified that he is aware and then spoke about countering the angle of left-arm speedsters, obviously a veiled reference to Mitchell Starc. The sessions continued and Pant was astounded that Rohit could tackle the light and shadow variance on his pitch as the sun descended.

As word spread, more turned up through the gates past the River Torrens. Meanwhile, the full squad appeared and indulged in a spot of kick-volleyball, a sport in which only legs are employed and some rare headers are dished out. There was laughter and some friendly arguments. Later it was all about fielding drills, and every catch taken evoked the applause befitting a goal scored in a football World Cup’s summit clash.

Soon, it was again time for nets with Yashasvi Jaiswal, K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Rohit, Pant and Washington Sundar being the first set of batters at work. Jasprit Bumrah and his pack, R. Ashwin and fellow spinners, were all in operation as the pink ball was dealt with under the sun and floodlights. These training programs will surely get more intense as India gears up for the day-and-night second Test in Adelaide from Friday (December 6, 2024).

Gautam Gambhir was a watchful presence at the Adelaide Oval. The Indian coach, who had returned home for personal reasons after the first Test at Perth, arrived here in the early hours of Tuesday (December 3, 2024). The former India opener kept an eye on his wards as Rohit Sharma’s men had their first training session in the lead-up to the second Test

Indian squad celebrate the victory in the first Border-Gavaskar Test match against Australia, in Perth.
| Photo Credit: ANI

It was a weekend of rain and runs for the Indians at Canberra. The warm-up fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI at the Manuka Oval was touted as the ideal base ahead of the second Test in Adelaide from Friday (December 6, 2024). A two-day tussle under lights and against the pink ball was also seen as a lens to understand how players were primed for the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

In the end, damp skies washed out Saturday’s play while a kind sun and floodlights at night ensured a Sunday (December 1, 2024) contest with its facade of a limited overs skirmish but one that had the depth of a Test match. Among India’s leading stars, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R. Ashwin, played no role while all the others had their turns either as a batter or bowler.

India won with ease and even tucked into the host’s courtesy and batted the full quota of 46 overs much after going past the winning tape. There were these little stories within perhaps a friendly battle. That K.L. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal strode out as openers could be seen as a hat-tip to the combined form they revealed especially during their second outing in the first Test at Perth. But does that mean, a rejig is in order?

With Shubman Gill having recovered from an injury and batting well, he obviously slots in at number three, a position earlier strengthened by the broad willows of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid. If the past is a yardstick, then maybe Rohit will continue teaming up with Jaiswal atop the batting tree and yet the Canberra sojourn and the skipper’s meagre three from 11 deliveries, does raise some questions.

The Mumbaikar, all fluid sixes and rapid yields in ODIs, has a lone fifty in his last 10 innings from Tests. To be fair, he did try to dig in on Sunday before chasing one outside the off-stump. Till then Rohit looked his part at the crease. He has always put team over self, and never worries about statistical judgements. It remains to be seen if in the twilight phase of his career, he would go back to the middle-order, counter the old ball and be well set to tackle the new cherry.

Perhaps, with Prithvi Shaw losing his way, in a post-Rohit stage, a Rahul-Jaiswal combine may do the opening honours unless Gill moves up again. There is enough strategy to chew upon for the Indian management over the next few days. That Rohit and Gill are back in the playing eleven with Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel making way, is the presumed reality.

Kohli’s unbeaten 100 at Perth is a good sign and if Rohit can join forces, India will flourish for the rest of the series. Pushed into the opening slot, Rohit had prospered in Tests, maybe he will still do that against a tough rival unless a middle-order foray is what he and the management are looking at for now.

A view of the Adelaide Oval.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Australia got down to do the hard yards at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Monday (December 2, 2024). With the second Test scheduled to commence on Friday (December 6, 2024), the host had a long training session. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, both searching for runs, batted in the nets.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma’s men flew in from Canberra and opted to rest. The Indians will commence their pre-game routines from Tuesday with a stint under lights at night. Having got a feel of the pink ball during the warm-up fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra on Sunday, the visitors are keen to get more of the same in the coming days.

Australia’s Travis Head prepares for the second Test against India in Adelaide, reflecting on past successes and facing formidable challenges.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Under quirky Adelaide skies, sunny at one point, damp at another, Travis Head always feels at home. Back in his city in the lead-up to the second Test against India from Friday (December 6, 2024), Head is looking for clues from the past and equally gazing with hope into the immediate future.

In his previous two Tests at the Adelaide Oval, Head was adjudged as the ‘player-of-the-match’. Against India, he held his own in the first Test at Perth while many would recall his hundred in the 2023 ICC World Cup final that deflated Rohit Sharma’s men at Ahmedabad. Add to it India’s 36 during the 2020 Test here, and Head can surely lean on this rich vein of historical optimism.

But he is acutely conscious of India’s strengths quadrupled by Jasprit Bumrah’s role as a spearhead. “I am lucky that I have faced him a few times and I know what’s coming, just need to start well. He is unique. Jasprit is probably going to go down as one of the greatest fast bowlers and it will be nice to tell the grandkids that I faced him,” Head told the media in Adelaide on Monday (December 2, 2024).

The 295-run loss at Perth has been dealt with and Head elaborated: “We didn’t have a very good week but we have got four more opportunities. The writing was on the wall pretty quickly in that Test and we were pushing uphill.”

For the southpaw, the pink ball in the day and night Test in Adelaide, is no threat: “It’s still a game of cricket. It’s just a pink ball coming down, you face it in the same way and you have got to react to it the same way.”

Admitting an injured Josh Hazlewood will be missed, Head was quick to praise the reserve strength: “Josh is a huge loss but we have got some pretty good stocks in the sheds with Scott (Boland), Sean (Abbott) and (Brendan) Doggett.”

Australia’s Beau Webster has been included in the Australian squad for the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against India in Adelaide.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Beau Webster has been added to the Australia squad for the second Test against India at Adelaide from December 6.

The all-rounder from Tasmania, has been drafted in as cover for Mitchell Marsh, who was injured during the first Test at Perth which the host lost by 295 runs.

While the Australian team-management have hinted at sticking with the same unit, Marsh’s fitness concern may force a change.

Webster, also a right-hand pace all-rounder like Marsh, has been the stand out performer in the Sheffield Shield over the past two years. The 30-year-old has collected 1788 runs including five hundreds and nine fifties.

He also impressed in the A series against India earlier this month, becoming the the second highest run-getter for Australia A behind compatriot Nathan McSweeney, collecting 145 runs across four innings at an impressive average of 72.50.

With the ball, he became the joint-leading wicket-taker alongside Brendan Doggett both taking seven scalps each.

“To get a few runs and wickets (for Australia A) was pleasing against a strong Indian side,” Webster was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au ahead of the announcement on Thursday.

“Any time you’re playing ‘A’ cricket, it’s the one step below Test level, so it does hold you in good stead. To get the call from ‘‘Bails’‘ (men’s selection chair George Bailey) at the end of the NSW game was a really proud moment and I can’t wait to get stuck in.” Webster will join the Australian squad in Adelaide next week.

“There’s a tight turnaround between the Adelaide and Gabba Test so I think (I’m there) just to have some cover there for that middle-order role, whichever way they go,” Webster added.

(With inputs from PTI)