In a first, India win opening Test Down Under

This time, India harked back to another glorious Adelaide evening from 2003, when the team — fuelled by a double century from Rahul Dravid and boosted by a spell of pace bowling from Ajit Agarkar — defeated the hosts by four wickets to win the second Test of what was finally a 1-1 series.

Cheteshwar Pujara, a player in the Dravid mould, struck obdurate knocks in both innings, top-scoring with 123 and 71 to be named man-of-the-match. Kohli hailed Pujara’s contribution as “priceless” . “His grit and determination brought us back in it. We did not let up for four days,” the skipper said.

But it was a team effort, with the four-man attack picking up the 20 wickets needed for victory. Over the two innings, the pace trio of Ishant Sharma (3/95), Jasprit Bumrah (6/115) and Mohammed Shami (5/123) shared the spoils, and Ashwin never eased the pressure on the Australian batsmen.

Young wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was another bright spot, claiming 11 catches to equal the world record by a stumper in a Test match that was jointly held by England’s Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villiers until now.

Going 1-0 up in the four-test series is a huge boost for Kohli’s side after defeats in the opening Tests in South Africa and England led to 1-2 and 1-4 series defeats respectively.

India are now firm favourites to win its first Test series in Australia in the absence of the banned Steve Smith and David Warner following a ball-tampering scandal early this year.

The second Test starts in Perth on Friday.

INDIA ARE NOW FIRM FAVOURITES TO WIN ITS FIRST TEST SERIES IN AUSTRALIA IN THE ABSENCE OF THE BANNED STEVE SMITH AND DAVID WARNER