Virat Kohli’s enduring love affair with Adelaide Oval resulted in a classy 74 but his untimely run out triggered a batting collapse as India ended the opening day at 233 for 6 against Australia in the first Day-Night Test here on Thursday.
Kohli, who looked in complete command, was run out when his deputy Ajinkya Rahane backed out after calling for a single and it happened just before the second new ball was taken.
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From a comfortable 188 for 3, India slumped to 206 for 6 as Rahane and Hanuma Vihari (16) found the pace and swing generated by the pink ball under lights too hot to handle.
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Ravichandran Ashwin (15 batting) and Wriddhiman saha (9 batting) saw off the final few overs and also got a few runs.
In conditions, which can’t exactly be called batting-friendly, Kohli blended the right amount of caution and aggression in his 180-ball innings.
Cheteshwar Pujara (43 off 160 balls) let the bowlers dictate terms with an ultra-defensive approach.
Kohli's 88-run partnership with Rahane (42 off 91 balls) during the final session nearly put India on even keel.
Rahane was soon snapped with the second new ball by Mitchell Starc (2/49).
The knock will certainly be among the Indian captain’s favourites as he hit three pull-shots against the pacers -- two off Starc and one off Josh Hazlewood.
One of the pulls off Starc was a check shot for which he just rolled his wrists and the ball went through the square leg boundary. Then there was one off Hazlewood where he again rolled his wrists but the ball went to the front of square. He executed another pull by going under the ball to hit it over the mid-wicket fence.
Earlier, Pujara’s ultra-defensive approach became his own undoing as India literally crawled during the first two sessions.
It made for a fascinating hour of Test cricket, a throwback to the good old days when batsmen would plonk their front-foot with a big stride forward and use their pads as the first line of defence.
He did hit Lyon for a couple of boundaries trying to break the shackles but then came a classical off-break which had both turn and bounce and the bat-pad fielder Marnus Labuschagne, at leg-gully, lunged forward to take an easy catch.
While the art of defensive batting was a fantastic advertisement of top quality Test cricket, it can’t be denied that Pujara’s dogged approach made Kohli go into his shell before opening up in the final session.
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In the morning, Prithvi Shaw’s (0) poor technique was once again exposed by Starc while Mayank Agarwal (17) got a beauty from Pat Cummins.
The Australian pace troika of Starc (2/49 in 19 overs), Josh Hazlewood (1/47 in 20 overs) and Pat Cummins (1/42 in 19 overs) bowled a very steady line comprising mostly of fuller deliveries.
Starc kept a full delivery, which slightly shaped in, and Shaw, having faced one delivery, went for an expansive drive, playing away from his body only to drag it back onto the stumps.
Agarwal was a bit adventurous as he found India’s first boundary with a cover drive off Hazlewood. An uppish square drive off Starc got him a second one.
But Cummins produced one that was fast and moved off the track and Agarwal was beaten for pace as replays showed that he couldn’t even complete landing on his front-foot.
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