Is Pink Ball Test India's Worst Nightmare Come True? | India vs Australia - 1st Test Match Review |

 On the morning of 19th of December, 2020 India were bowled out within an hour or so. Wickets were falling like a  deck of cards and the hopes and dreams of billions watching at home were shattered. What had we just witnessed? 

Read the full match review to find out what happened.

1st Innings : INDIA'S RELIANCE ON VIRAT KOHLI

India won the toss and chose to bat first and despite the usual early wicket of Prithvi Shaw and a shaky start, things were going fine. Mayank was bowled out for 19 and the skipper marched down to bat. Building up decent partnerships with first Pujara and then Rahane, Kohli managed to bag a neat 74 runs. Despite a few hiccups, the Delhi born batted with authority in his favourite ground, until he was the victim of a runout. India were 188-3 when Kohli was runout and the rest of the team couldn't add much to the total, getting all out for a below par first innings total of 244. Kudos to the Australian bowlers as well, they bowled sharply and never seemed to give the batsmen any margin for error.

2nd Innings : ASHWIN SPINS A STORY

The men from down under came to bat at the early hours of play of Day 2. Bumrah and Umesh welcomed them with toe crushing yorkers and helmet kissing bouncers, ah, you love to see it, giving the Aussies a taste of their own medicine. Bumrah was the one to give India a breakthrough, dismissing Wade and Burns shortly after him. And then started the Ashwin saga. Dismissing Steve Smith for 1, Ashwin gave the hint of what was about to come. He bowled magnificently and kept things tight from his end, not giving the batters any breathing room.  He added three more scalps to his tally, ending with figures of 18-3-55-4. On the contrary, Labuschagne batted with character after being dropped thrice by the Indian fielders although wickets were tumbling down at the other end. Later on, the skipper, Tim Paine added a few valuable runs in an effort to make Australia cross the 244 run barrier but the wickets at the other end kept on falling as Australia's innings were halted at 191. India had a massive lead of 53 runs and what came next will be remembered for a very long, long time.

3rd Innings : MIGHTY INDIA COME CRASHING DOWN

India were 9-1 at the end of Day 2 when Mayank and Bumrah; the night-watchman, came to bat at Day 3. And what followed next was total domination by the Kangaroos. Josh Hazlewood and Patrick Cummins bowled out India for a mere total of 36. They completely exposed India's batting as the Indian supporters at the Adelaide Oval watched it all unfold in silence. Wickets were falling left right and centre as the quickies were spelling fire with the ball. The Indian batsmen got totally outplayed by the Australian seamers to such an extent that it felt like watching a club game. Not one single batsman could get to double digit numbers as India was stopped at it's lowest ever test score. 9 wickets fell in about a 100 minutes. These bare facts tell you the story of a day that'll probably go down as one of the worst in India's Test history. Hazlewood ended his fiery spell with the pink ball, with figures of 5-3-8-5 whereas Cummins registered figures of 10.2-4-21-4. Kudos to the Australians, they held their nerves after trailing in the first innings and bounced back in the best possible way. Even with a lead of 53 runs in the first innings, India set a target of 90 odd runs for Australia to chase.

4th Innings : THE INEVITABLE HAPPENS

Expecting the bowlers to bowl out the Aussies under 90 odd runs is never easy. It is, however, almost impossible when they're in their home soil, with their tails up after bowling out India for 36 and confidence seeping through their veins. Indian bowlers gave them a tough time between the 22-yards but it was too little too late. Joe Burns scored an unbeaten 51 as he helped guide Australia to an easy win with 8 wickets in hand.

Conclusion : 

Well it was certainly a night to forget for the Indian squad but they should remain positive and look forward to the next match. They can still bounce back from the disaster that was at Adelaide if they're lead properly, there is consistency in batting and they fix the issue of their openers. They also need to work on their fielding as crucial catches were dropped during their time at the field. Under no circumstances do I personally see Prithvi Shaw continuing with the playing XI as chances to KL Rahul, Shubmann Gill and Rishabh Pant may be given. The only positives to be taken away from this match was India's bowling, especially from Ravichandran Ashwin. Here's hoping Mohammad Shami gets well soon from injury and India bounces back in the series. 

Important Notes :

1. This was Virat Kohli's last match as he leaves for India for the birth of his child shortly after.

2. Ajinkya Rahane to carry out leadership duties from the second test.

3. Mohammad Shami has been ruled out of the rest of the series due to injury to his arm.