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At last, we have a contest!

That was a surprise. Not even the most one-eyed of Australia's supporters would have expected them to make this sort of start to the series. A win (after 4502 days as Steven Smith reminded everyone a few times) would have sufficed. A 333 run win on a surface that was bouncing and turning from day one probably felt (and still feels) like three or four Santa Clauses come at once in a golden sledge.

And while the two Steves will get most of the plaudits deservedly, Mitchell Starc with his 91 runs in quick time (in both innings) and the double wicket over of Pujara and Kohli played an equal part in turning the match (especially in the first half of it). If Pujara and Kohli had stuck around for a bit longer and India got to 200 in their first innings, an Australian collapse to double digits in the second innings was not out of the question. Funny the way scoreboard pressure works on modern day cricketers, even in Test match cricket.

Australia will be further heartened by the fact that they won this well despite nearly half the team playing mostly peripheral roles. Apart from the Smith, O'Keefe, and Starc, Matt Renshaw and Nathan Lyon were solid in their jobs. The rest were more or less passengers though Handscomb took some spectacular catches and Hazlewood made a key early incision. Nevertheless, Smith will believe that with bigger innings from Warner and Shaun Marsh, and more from his fast bowlers, that Australia will pose a really stiff challenge under any conditions. The #6 slot is still proving a tricky one but with flatter pitches likely, Mitch Marsh's bowling will probably keep him in the side.

Virat Kohli and his boys on the other hand will be licking their wounds. Eight out of nine possible victories meant that the team had probably started to believe a little bit of its own hype this season. As Kohli said after the thumping, a reality check might have been needed. This is not the first time that this batting line-up has been exposed against better than average spinners (and sometimes average ones). Kolkata 2013 (against Shane Shillingford), Southampton 2014 (Moeen Ali), Adelaide 2014 (Nathan Lyon), and most recently Galle 2015 (Rangana Herath) all saw the batting slide dramatically, and with the exception of Galle largely on blameless pitches. India were lucky all season that the likes of Santner, Sodhi, Patel, Rashid, Moeen Ali, and Ansari never really posed a huge challenge to their batsmen. Bangladesh should have done better but they flattered to deceive too. At the first sign of decent spinners on a turning track, the batting caved in. What will worry Kohli and Kumble more is that the Australian batsmen looked better defensively against spinners of a higher quality. And to add to that, the second Test is at India's least successful major venue at home and one where the Aussies have won twice (though India did win the most recent match).

All of which makes for a fascinating tussle and one that truly sets up the series to be a battle of mental strength and perseverance. In other words, real Test cricket.


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