When Cummins, for once, brought the old Australian out

India vs Australia 1st Test: Pat Cummins was the only Australian bowler who had a word with an Indian batsman during first day's play at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

Will there be aggression? If yes, then how much? The questions lingered as one geared up for the first Test match between India and Australia. Well, there was plenty of it during the first day’s play at Adelaide but as promised by both India and Australia, it was restricted to bat and ball… almost.

There was only one incident when an Australian bowler decided to say a few words to an Indian batsman after beating him comprehensively and thankfully he did. For it reminded that the two sides were actually taking part in a hard-fought cricket series which will be decided on the basis of runs and wickets and not the number of pleasantries exchanged.

Almost two sessions of cricket had gone by with the Australian seamers looking menacing with each passing moment, making the Indians fend and dance to their tunes. The Indian batsmen too were fighting fire with fire, more often than not suffering burns from the flames of their own torch.  And yet there was something missing. There was no glare from Starc after going past Vijay or Hazlewood did not care to have a word with the batsman after bowling the most testing over. One had slowly started to believe in Michael Clarke’s concerns of Australia making a desperate attempt to gain popularity among the opponents. Just then, the third half of the famous Australian pace troika – Pat Cummins – restored normality.

In the last ball of the 3^rd over, Cummins ran in like he had been doing since morning and pitched it around the fifth stump, on the Australian good length area. Pant, now holding the baton of aggression after Rohit’s dismissal, tried to give tough competition to Rohit for the worst shot of the day tag by attempting an outrageous heave. Such strong usage of words is because India were reeling at 110 for 5 at that time.

#AUSvIND @gradecricketer Pujara: We're 5 for 110. Time to to put your head down, runs will come after tea. Pant: pic.twitter.com/HUyeGC5xgh

— Damian Coffey (@damiancoffey) December 6, 2018

Slightly taken aback by the turn of events, Cummins at first broke into a chuckle and then had a fair bit to say to Pant. The Indian wicket-keeper, perhaps already embarrassed by the choice of his shot, took it up his sleeve and chose to ignore.

That was it. 55 more overs were bowled after that without an Australian bowler uttering a single word to an Indian batsman, barring the odd stare from Hazlewood before rushing back to his mark.

One might argue that the Australians were doing their job with the ball. Yes, they were, but the spice was missing. There surely isn't much harm in sometimes reminding the batsman about the contest he is in. Just like Cummins did, in full dignified manner.