The first day of the Adelaide Test unravelled something of the mystery of Virender Sehwag, the captain, but by stumps it was the Australian captain Michael Clarke and his predecessor Ricky Ponting who had once again hastened the unravelling of India.
On a sweltering opening day, Sehwag’s decision to bring on spinner Ravi Ashwin in the fourth over of the match was hailed as a masterstroke.
But his decision to keep bowling himself while Ponting and Clarke were on the scent of centuries? Not so much.
In a reprisal of their triumphant partnership in Sydney three weeks ago, Ponting and Clarke took Australia from an uncertain position at 3-84 before lunch to a powerful one, 3-335, at stumps.
Ponting was presented with a piece of the famous Adelaide Oval scoreboard before this Test in honour of his highest score here.
He has a way to go to emulate his 242 against India eight years ago, but he should be given a chunk of the pitch, too, after making 137 not out, his sixth hundred at the ground.
He also became the third batsman in the world to pass 13,000 Test runs. How the other two, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, would love to share in the runs this belter of a pitch promises over the coming days.
Clarke enhanced his burgeoning reputation by shrugging off any lingering fatigue from his epic 329 at the SCG and powered to 140 not out - his fifth century as captain.
India’s competitive early position had a lot to do with Sehwag’s innovative streak.
Standing in for the suspended MS Dhoni as captain, and regarded by many Indian supporters as a prospective long-term replacement, Sehwag immediately proved a more adventurous on-field leader.
Ashwin, the spiderish off-spinner from Chennai, was brought into the attack after one worrying over from Umesh Yadav and tested the patience of David Warner with a maiden.
The next over, Zaheer Khan jagged a ball into Warner’s pads as he tried to rotate the strike, and had the dangerous Australian lbw for 8.
‘‘It wasn’t a shock to me, I was prepared for it,’’ said Ashwin.
‘‘As you know in the last game we didn’t have many ammunitions to throw at David Warner when he was going after us so I had my plans ready.’’
‘‘I think it was a very instinctive decision to bring me on and he told me the over before. I thought I was pretty good at executing what I had in mind.’’
Ashwin claimed two wickets of his own in the session.
He squeezed a straight ball through the defences of Shaun Marsh, whose tentative form throughout the series has produced just 17 runs in seven hits, and suckered Ed Cowan into a loose drive to short cover, where VVS Laxman stooped to grasp a low catch that defied his crook back.
Cowan and Ponting shared a partnership of 53 and Cowan, walking back to the dressing room with 30, scolded himself for squandering a chance to bat for hours on such a true surface.
Through an unbroken partnership of 251, spanning more than four hours, there were few lapses in concentration from the more senior batting pair.
On 36, Clarke went after a wide ball from the luckless Ishant Sharma, who was a constant threat with bounce, pace and a fuller length than he maintained in Perth.
But the edge flew to first slip, which Sehwag had left vacant while a fielder floated between second and third.
Sharma again enticed an edge from Clarke on 134, and this time Laxman touched an outstretched hand to it, but it went for four.
‘‘He [Sharma] has beaten the bat so many times, Michael Clarke was beaten on 130, it was that type of day at the office,’’ Ashwin said.
For most of the afternoon, Ponting and Clarke were in supreme touch and Sehwag could not depend on young quick Yadav, who leaked seven runs an over and gave up a few more in the field.
Still, the captain’s decision to wheel through 13 overs of his own gentle off-spin on a pitch offering little turn was not as inspired as his early introduction of Ashwin.
Clarke hit the second ball after tea for six over the long, straight boundary, before both batsmen brought up their centuries and eyed a massive first-innings total.
‘‘There wasn’t much in it for any of the Indian bowlers, there was no sideways movement for the quickies, there was not a lot of spin,’’ Ponting said.
‘‘We’ve had a pretty good day to be 3 for 330-odd after being 2 for 30. We have to make sure we win the first hour tomorrow and really make sure that this first innings is a big one.
‘‘It’s Michael’s and my responsibility to make sure we start well tomorrow and see where that takes us. You have to be careful you don’t bat too long as well because by the look of the wicket it’s going to be a tough wicket to take 20 wickets on if we want to win this game.’’
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