In the second Test in Adelaide, Australia’s captain Pat Cummins defeated India by 10 wickets, putting an end to the Josh Hazlewood speculations. After the dismal outcome at Perth, the 31-year-old pacer staged a remarkable return by leading his team to a decisive victory over the Indians.
The hosts, who had utterly outperformed the tourists in every way following a heartbreaking 295-run defeat in Perth, chased down a meagre target of 19 runs on the third day of the pink-ball Test. The baggy greens have so continued to win the day/night Test matches with perfect record. Despite the victory, one incident still plagued the Australian team.
For those who are not familiar with the situation, there was a lot of discussion about possible internal issues between Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, who was reportedly absent because of a side strain injury. Hazlewood had apparently expressed his anger in a press conference regarding the batters’ lack of runs in the thrashing in Perth. Rumours that a dispute was still going on in the Australian locker room were stoked by this. Furthermore, this gave rise to the belief that Hazlewood’s comments were excluded from the Pink Ball Test.
The fantastic performance Australia had in the Adelaide Test, however, was unaffected by these allegations, according to captain Pat Cummins.
The pacer also contributed significantly to the game and took his 13th five-wicket haul to guarantee his team’s easy victory. Following the game, Cummins made sure to speak about the rumours that were circulating about Hazelwood in a post-match interview.
“Great week, even though we knew we were far from the Perth team we wanted to be with.” This is back to how we like to play. We know that we make a solid team, and there was never much noise in the group.” This is what News 18 cited Cummins as saying.
After losing in Adelaide, India’s WTC rankings plummet.
Speaking of the Adelaide Test result and how it affected the likelihood of reaching the World Test Championship (WTC) final, Australia earned the top slot with an incredible win. However, Team India’s hopes of qualifying for the WTC summit match were ruined by the outcome of the pink-ball Test, which dropped them to third place.
For a simpler route to qualification, the visitors must now win the remaining three Test matches. It will be much more difficult if there is any loss in the future. The match will now move to Brisbane, where Australia will take on India with great confidence and the hope of putting on another strong showing. On Saturday, December 14, the third Test of the BGT 2024-25 will begin.
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