Kohli hails Pujara, quicks after Adelaide cliffhanger

VIRAT Kohli hailed the impact of man-of-the-match Cheteshwar Pujara in India’s breakthrough first test victory over Australia yesterday and paid tribute to his pace attack for staying patient with the match on a knife-edge.

Kohli’s team claimed a deserved 31-run victory on day five at Adelaide Oval to become the first Indian side to win a test series-opener on Australian soil in 71 years of touring.

India’s superior batting proved decisive, with Pujara scoring 123 to rescue India’s first innings before adding 71 in the second that helped set Australia a chase of 323 for victory. “Priceless from Pujara, we were down and out at lunch on day one,” said Kohli after India’s first test match win in Australia in 10 years.

“His grit and determination brought us back in it ... We did not let up again for four days.”

Australia began the day with six wickets in hand and holding genuine hope of chasing down the 323 required on a fifth-day wicket that held few demons.

But Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah removed Travis Head (14) and Shaun Marsh (60), Australia’s last two specialist batsmen, in the morning to slow the home side’s chase.

Stubborn tail-end partnerships made the game interesting for the sparse crowd but Bumrah and Mohammed Shami broke through for key wickets before spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Josh Hazlewood to seal victory at the end of the extended middle session.

India’s pace trio have been rated the nation’s best in years, and Kohli said their ability to sustain pressure on Australia’s batsmen underlined their maturity. “That’s a very positive sign,” he said. “We’ve not been able to sustain that pressure for long enough in the past.”

Rishabh Pant, meanwhile, had a world record in his grasp as he helped India to the droughtbreaking win but he had to settle for a share of it.

The 21-year-old Pant equaled the test record for wicketkeepers with 11 catches in India’s victory, gloving six in Australia’s first innings and five in the second to join former England ‘keeper Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villiers.

Pant has now taken 31 catches in six tests, alleviating pressure after his place in the side had been under heavy scrutiny.