Since last Thursday, the whole of Australia has been in a state of melancholy inertia. With Phillip Hughes’s passing away, it’s almost like life itself has been sucked out of this otherwise ebullient nation. Amidst all that gloom, despair and desperate attempts at redemption, Virat Kohli and his Indian team have stayed put in Adelaide. Or, to be more accurate, they have been lying low. They had arrived in the country close to 10 days ago with a lot of bluster and hoopla for what was to be, and still will be once it starts: a monumentally significant tour for a young team trying to create its niche. They started their sojourn on a bright note even, with five of their batsmen scoring half-centuries and their fast bowlers finding speed and rhythm. Then horror struck at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Ever since, an entire country has been trying to come to grips with just how a life can be snatched away in an instant during an innocent contest between bat and ball. And as the country prepares to bid farewell to Hughes, even members of the Indian contingent – skipper Virat Kohli, director Ravi Shastri and a few others – will travel 1900 km to be in Macksville, New South Wales, on Wednesday to pay their respects to a departed colleague. On Monday, India were scheduled to depart for Brisbane at 11.30 am. But with 15 minutes left to go, they were stopped in their tracks with a call from the BCCI asking them to stay back in Adelaide. A few hours later, Cricket Australia (CA) would confirm that the tour itinerary had indeed been rejigged with the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) the only one to retain its original dates. The first Test will now be played at the Adelaide Oval on December 9 with the Gabba hosting the second on December 17. In an unprecedented move, CA have decided to do away with tradition and pushed back the New Year’s Test at SCG by three days, ensuring it will start on January 6. It’s been done mainly to ensure that teams don’t end up playing four back-to-back Test matches with no substantial break in between. The Indians had seen their second practice match in Adelaide get cancelled over the weekend. However, they will now get to play it at the Gliderol Stadium in Glenelg, near Adelaide, on December 4 and 5. In the meanwhile, they played in an intra-squad match, where reportedly the Indian fast bowlers focused on testing the abilities of their teammates against the rising delivery. But with Brisbane now delayed, getting additional acclimatisation in a city where they will play the series opener is an advantage. Oval not as quick as Gabba To boot, in terms of conditions, Adelaide might not be a bad place to start the series for Kohli & Co. Unlike the quick surface at the Gabba, the drop-in wicket at the Adelaide Oval is unlikely to present the young Indians with a baptism by fire. But the delay is unlikely to bring either MS Dhoni or Michael Clarke into contention as the two incumbent skippers battle injury concerns. It was in Adelaide that Kohli scored his maiden Test ton four years ago, and he should feel relatively more comfortable leading his troops in here in his first game as skipper rather than at the cauldron in Brisbane. With Hughes having played a lot of his domestic cricket for South Australia in Adelaide, the game will also be looked at as a tribute encounter for Australia’s departed hero. With the BCCI and CA locked in talks, there has been incessant conjecture in the local media on the status of the first Test and its subsequent impact on the series. To their credit, the Australian board has juggled their responsibilities commendably, with the delicate issue of Hughes’ farewell causing divided opinions in the media. While some had called for the first Test to continue as planned, claiming that it was time Australia moved on, it is learnt that many of the top players had wanted the postponement. Eventually, CA felt that they had to stick with their players’ requests, especially in this hour of emotional upheaval at a personal and professional level. “Nobody should underestimate just what these players are going through right now. These are difficult days and we need to support them in dealing with their grief. It’s very clear that playing a Test right now is just too soon and we are reacting accordingly,” CA CEO James Sutherland said. “A concern with these changes has been creating congestion within the cricket calendar by holding four Test matches in 33 days. We knew that if we started any later than 9 December, that congestion would only get worse. We looked at possibly holding the Brisbane Test in the New Year following Sydney but we felt that would only compromise the tri-series against England and India, which is important preparation for our World Cup campaign,” he added.
