It seems India have stumbled upon a workable formula at last - win the toss, at least you won't lose!
Virat Kohli and his band of boys have at last done what everyone was hoping they would against an Australia side that has been billed as weak since the abrupt banishment of two of their best cricketers from the game. At Adelaide, even though the hosts put up a spirited fightback in their chase of the 323-run target, India made sure they didn't lose any nerve and emerged victorious in the end by a narrow margin of 31 runs. Here is a slew of numbers thrown up by one of the best matches of the year:
1. This is the first time that India have won the first Test of a series in Australia. Previously, in the 11 series-openers before this, they managed to draw just a couple while losing the rest.
2. This also marks only the sixth time India won the first Test of an away series. They've done it once in England (Lord's 1986), once in South Africa (Jo'burg 2006), thrice in New Zealand and twice in West Indies (both this decade).
3. With the win, Kohli became the first Asian captain to win Tests in England, South Africa and Australia in a year - at Trent Bridge, the Wanderers and Adelaide Oval respectively. The previous time it happened was in 1968 when India won all three Tests in New Zealand.
4. Lucky or not so much? - India's record when Kohli wins the toss: 17 wins and 3 draws. It seems India have stumbled upon a workable formula at last - win the toss, at least you won't lose!
5. Cheteshwar Pujara's priceless 194 runs in this match made him the only Indian batsman to hit 50-plus scores in all of India's three away wins in 2018.
6. Ravi Ashwin's match figures of 6/149 in Adelaide are his best across three tours to Australia with the previous best being his 5 wickets for 209 runs at the MCG on India's last tour Down Under.
7. The first Test saw the most number of batsmen getting out caught in a Test - 35, a world record. It broke the record of 34 catches set in Cape Town earlier this year between Australia and South Africa.
8. India's margin of victory, 31, happens to be their third-narrowest in terms of runs. The closest win ever for India was also against the same opposition albeit in Mumbai - by 13 runs (2004-05) followed by the 28-run win over England at Eden Gardens in 1972-73.
9. India have slowly acquired the status of choking teams to death in their last innings. In the last ten years, they haven't allowed any team to chase a 200-plus target in the fourth innings. The last time to do so was South Africa in Cape Town in 2006-07.
