From ‘worst Test team ever’ to domination as captain Cummins leads 10-wicket win

Hometown hero’s perfect 10 as star pair continue slumps – RATING

Boland finished the match with figures of 5/105 – but it might not be enough for him to retain his spot in the starting XI for Brisbane. But the beauty of having a reserve like Boland is that he is able to slot seamlessly into the team, as star batter Travis Head noted.

“It feels like something’s going to happen with Scotty. He’s been high quality his whole Test career,” Head said.

“We said that at the start of the week, it was nice to have someone like him be ready to go and come back in, (because) you know the impact that he’s going to have. He’s taking some huge wickets tonight for us.

“Whenever Scott comes in. He has an impact. He’s a hugely important guy for us in the squad. He’s a great person. The boys absolutely love him. The public love him. So I couldn’t be happier, whenever he does get a chance, you can’t be happier for him when he performs and he does each time.”

Barring injury, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc will almost certainly play at the Gabba next week, while Hazlewood is a decent chance of returning from his side niggle.

Cummins said prior to the Test that Hazlewood, who was the pick of the bowlers in Perth, was able to bowl a day prior to the Adelaide Test.

He is expected to bowl in the nets against on Monday, which means Boland might again be donning the orange singlet in Brisbane.

The 35-year-old has a phenomenal record in Tests in Australia — 33 wickets at 13.54. Only one cricketer in Test history has more scalps at a lower average on Australian soil — 19th century seamer George Lohmann.

For inspiration heading towards the twilight of his Test career, Boland doesn’t have to look much further than former Australian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill, who spent most of his career shadowing the legendary Shane Warne.

MacGill never cemented himself in Australia’s first-choice starting XI, but still finished his Test career with 208 wickets at 29.02.

Boland may not reach 20 Tests, but he could finish with extraordinary career numbers if he continues seizing his opportunities.

“I’ve loved every game I’ve played for Australia. Hopefully there’s a couple more to come,” Boland said.

Fox Cricket analyst Kerry O’Keeffe suspects that Boland may yet get another chance, believing the Aussies will consider rotating the quicks this summer given the quick back-up between Tests in order to pressure Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and his side.

“This Australian pace attack is relentless and there’s Hazelwood waiting in the wings,” he said.

“It’s going to be Starc, Cummins, Hazelwood and Boland. They’re going to pick from that four. They may rest Starc and they may bring Hazelwood back and then rest him from Melbourne. But that four will share the responsibility. They’re not going anywhere.”

ANOTHER TEST, ANOTHER AUSSIE IN QUESTION

Winning camouflages cracks, but while the Aussies will head to Brisbane with a spring in their steps after squaring the Border Gavaskar Trophy, a couple of the nation’s leading batters will be keen to get among the runs at the Gabba.

The hard work Labuschagne has put in paid off when he turned his form around with a gritty innings and the Queenslander will undoubtedly be extremely keen to go on with it on his home turf.

His partnership with Nathan McSweeney, who looked more at home in his third innings, proved critical in giving Australia the upper-hand in the Test match, with Fox Cricket analyst Kerry O’Keeffe saying it was pivotal to Australia’s success.

“I thought Labuschagne was terrific the other night. He didn’t want to expose Smith and Head and he made sure that they didn’t bat that night,” he told foxsports.com.au.

“It was pivotal in the win. Because of Starc’s performance and Head’s performance and Cummins’ performance (it will be overshadowed), but it was integral in Australia not losing four or five that night. And Marnus did it.”

But both Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith again missed out in the opening innings, which continues their run of outs through the 2024 season.

Smith has averaged 23.20 in 13 innings this year, with his best effort the unbeaten 91 as opener at the Gabba in a Test Australia lost to the West Indies. Khawaja, who finished unbeaten on nine, was averaging 25.20 for the year going into his second innings.

O’Keeffe said it was fascinating to see how the pendulum of pressure had swung from McSweeney and Labuschagne to the veteran Australian batters.

“Usman again needs runs. It’s funny how McSweeney and Labuschagne were under the pump (and) McSweeney only got 30-odd, while Marnus got a half 100, but the pressure has shifted from those two to Smith and Usman. It’s fascinating,” he said.

Smith was dismissed cheaply when caught down leg side again, but both Brett Lee and O’Keeffe suspect he will bounce back at the Gabba.

“They have tactics against Steve that he has to combat. They’ve got him again down the leg side and there’ll be more of that in Brisbane,” O’Keeffe told foxsports.com.au.

“Steve’s a champion, but he’s in batting’s middle-age, and he’s a hand-eye coordinated player. He doesn’t hit to the same areas he used to hit to. But a number of critics have tried to write Steve Smith off from the past, and he’s come back at them strongly. I would expect that he’ll come back again.

“If Brisbane is typical Brisbane, he loves the ball coming onto the bat. He got 90-odd not out against the West Indies (in January) and he probably should have won that Test match for Australia carrying his bat. I think that … the scene is set for a revival.”

ANOTHER INDIAN CONUNDRUM — WILL SHAMI BE AVAILABLE?

The discussion in Perth was about Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance and in Adelaide it was about Mohammed Siraj’s feistiness.

But the focus will soon swing as to whether another star, Mohammed Shami, will join the party in Brisbane to bolster an Indian attack that looks thin when the top two are not bowling.

The 34-year-old, who has taken 229 wickets in 64 Tests, is back bowling in Indian domestic cricket but captain Rohit Sharma said the nature of his knee problem meant he was not a certainty to return in Australia.

“Definitely that door is very much open, but we’re just monitoring him, because while playing (in India), he again got some swelling in his knee, which obviously hampers his preparation to come and play a Test match,” he said.

“We want to be very, very careful. We don’t want to bring him here in a situation (where) he pulls up sore or something happens. We want to be more than 100 percent sure with him, because it’s been such a long time that he’s out.

“And to be fair to him, we don’t want to put pressure on him to come here and do the job for the team. So we just have to be very, very careful. But again, like I said, that door is very much open for him to come and play.”

It is also likely India will monitor Bumrah this week after he suffered from cramp on Saturday afternoon.

The Indian champion bowled only one over in Australia’s short pursuit on Sunday and did not hit top pace when ranging from 121.2km/h with his first delivery to 131.3km/h with his last delivery.

Sharma was asked with the Indians would consider Bumrah’s workload through the summer but he said the immediate focus was on Brisbane. While Siraj took four wickets in the second innings, Sharma said it was important for the Indian attack to share the load.

“It’s a great thing to have someone like Bumrah, but he’s not the only one who’s going to get the job done every time,” he said

.

“The other guys have to take that responsibility. Siraj, especially, along with Bumrah, when he got those four wickets as well, the responsibility was shared, and that is what we look forward to.

“There are times where Bumrah will not get wickets and the other guys needs to step in. It’s not about just one individual or two individual. If you want to win the Test match or series, everyone needs to share that responsibility of putting their hand up and getting the job done to the team.

“That’s something that I’ve seen within the group for many years now. It’s not the case now, but it’s always nice to have a few guys sharing that responsibility.”

Harshit Rana showed promise in Perth when securing four wickets, including 3-48 as India knocked Australia over for 104 runs in the first innings. But Adelaide proved a far greater challenge, with Rana wicketless in the first innings from 16 overs.

Despite that, Fox Cricket analyst and former Australian great Brett Lee said he liked the look of the 22-year-old.

“I’ve enjoyed watching Harshit Rana. It looks as though he’s got the goods. There is something about him to look forward to,” Lee told foxsports.com.au

PICK AND STICK OR ROLL THE DICE AGAIN

A great irony following India’s decisive triumph in Perth is that when the teams were announced on Friday afternoon in Adelaide, it was the tourists which had wrung the changes.

There was, of course, logic to this. As Kerry O’Keeffe told foxsports.com.au, Australia has largely adopted a “pick and stick” policy when it comes to selection and it was rewarded with Marnus Labuschagne showing semblances of his own form with a fine half-century.

India, on paper, was arguably strengthened by the return of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who both would have played in Perth had they been available. And the tourists are blessed with superb spinners, so the selection of Ravichandran Ashwin in preference to Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who played in Perth, was arguably a toss of the coin decision.

What the Indians did not do was tinker with the batting order, so to speak, with Sharma opting to bat at No.6 after KL Rahul batted with distinction alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal in Perth when promoted to opener in the skipper’s absence in Perth.

His reasoning was that given India’s success in Perth, there was no need to alter the order, even though the XI had been changed.

But the partnership was less successful in Adelaide, with Mitchell Starc removing Jaiswal with a first ball corker in Adelaide, while KL Rahul fell for seven in the second innings after making 37 in the first innings.

Rahul looks comfortable at the top of the order. But Sharma did not perform at No.6, making just three when trapped LBW by Boland in the first innings, and six when bowled by Cummins in the second innings.

The challenge for Sharma and the Indian selectors is to decide whether his dearth of runs was due to rustiness, the pink-ball, or his slide down the order. It shapes as one of the fascinating subplots leading into the Test at the Gabba.

“I think they will pick and stick, India (although) I think consideration has to be given to changing the team. But they won’t,” O’Keeffe said.

“It’s a tough gig to come here at 37 years of age. Rohit has averaged 13 in his last five Test matches (and has) a double failure in Adelaide. You could count on one hand the number of 37 year old-plusses who have come to Australia and had a significant effect on the series. I think Younis Khan of Pakistan is one. Jacques Kallis of South Africa is another. Both averaged over 50.

“Can Rohit Sharma do that in the remaining few tests? That question has to be asked. He’s the skipper. I think he’ll stay, but I think consideration must be given to game plan B. This Australian pace attack is relentless. They are not going anywhere. Is Rohit Sharma?”

Prominent Indian journalist Harsha Bhogle said the Indians faced a conundrum when it comes to where Sharma bats in the order.

“It is very, very tricky, because he’s got a few more days to practice. If he starts to think he’s hitting the ball well, then if he has signed up to be the opening better, then he must open the batting,” he said.

“Having played a Test match, and having had three or four net sessions, if he’s not confident of opening the batting, then that move down to five or six, in my view, has to be permanent. Then he cannot keep moving up.

“I don’t think it’s fair on KL Rahul. He was told five Test matches ago that his career is at number six. So he’s got to know that if when the going is tough, you’re going to be opening the batting, and back in India, you’re going to be batting at six, that’s a tough gig.

“He’s got to be told we are giving you five Test matches as an opener, and you will also get the next Test match back in India, where opening the batting is a lot easier. So I’d expect that communication to take place.”

WHY CHANGE A WINNING FORMULA?

As crowds filed across the footbridge overhanging the beautiful River Torrens separating Adelaide Oval from the central business district on Sunday, it provided another demonstration of the strength of the appetite for cricket in South Australia.

The prospect remained the Test could be over within the first hour, but that did not deter fans from piling into the ground for the third day in succession.

After 101,828 fans attended the first two days, another 33,184 flocked in for the India’s last rites on Sunday. This took the total attendance beyond 135,000 for the Test, surpassing the previous record between Australia and India of 113,009 in 2014-15.

Some, though, were surprised by the fact that when Adelaide hosts the Ashes Test next year, it will revert to a traditional day slot instead of the afternoon start that allows the magnificent stadium to shine at night. The light near dusk has to be seen first-hand to appreciate it.

The atmosphere, too, is electric. But that is not the only reason some are surprised by the decision to rotate the day-night Test back to the Gabba for the Ashes. They point to the record that Australia has at Adelaide Oval under lights as the reason it should host the match.

The Aussies are yet to lose a match in eight pink-ball outings at the ground, but were surprised in Brisbane earlier this year by the West Indies, which saw that series squared.

Asked during the Adelaide Test the reason for the switch, Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said the South Australian Cricket Association preferred to host a match as close to Christmas as possible. Presumably that is to bolster crowds. But where would they fit?

O’Keeffe, however, is very mindful that South Australian fans will pack out Adelaide Oval next December and believes the return to a day game will be welcomed.

“I think the punters here love the day Test. I know they’ve turned up for the day night, but I think the crowds will be through the roof for the Ashes next year,” he said.

“I think if it goes to four or five days, there’ll be 50,000 here every day. And the farmers of South Australia, they come for this Test. They don’t like leaving the ground at 10.30 at night, so there’s a lot of pluses for this being a day Test.

“But the thing is that Australia just plays so well here. This is eight from eight and they will reluctantly agree to it being a day game, but eight from eight? It’s quite a cauldron for them. They’d love to subject England to that, but it’s leaving Adelaide.”

That aside, the prospect remains that Australia will have another pink ball outing next year amid reports that one of the matches in the tour of the West Indies will be played as a day-night affair.

Hockley, whose tenure as CEO finishes in March, said he could not confirm whether that is the case.

“I’m not sure on that. That’ll be confirmed in due course,” he told SEN Radio.

But CA is delighted that the series of the West Indies will comprise of three Tests. At a time when more powerful nations need to assist the less-financial Test countries, Hockley described it as a step forward.

“I am really glad that is going to manifest,” he said.

“We’re still waiting for an official announcement from the West Indies Cricket Board around precise dates and precise locations but it will be a three Test series which is obviously big and is as it should be.

“It’s another great opportunity. The World Test Championship prescribed that we needed to play two, at least two. But really, for the fans and for the players, you don’t want to be stuck in the position when it’s one-one and everyone is feeling unsatisfied.”