How Team India rewrote the script in the first Test

“The message was that sometimes when you are bowled out for a lower score, you can be a little too desperate and you can go wicket-hunting,” said Burmah on Monday after India had sealed a massive 295-run victory. “So when you try too much over here, it doesn’t really help, and the run rate goes high. Be nice and disciplined and we’ll make run-making as difficult as we can. That is what has worked in the past over here as well. And when we are able to do that, it gives us a lot of success.”

This is cricketing logic of the highest order, but players often don’t get it in the heat of the moment. To do the simple things right in a high-pressure situation is a difficult thing. Everyone wants to play the hero, and this hunger often leads down the wrong path. However, Bumrah didn’t give his young attack too much time to dwell on the problem -- he took the lead himself with a spell for the ages.

Dishing up a stormRana, 22, who was making his Test debut, had cried in the team huddle during his speech after receiving his India cap, but when it was his turn to bowl, he was full of steely resolve.

“Whether you talk about batting or bowling, when someone gives you a start like Jassi bhaiyya (Bumrah) did, it creates an atmosphere where everyone is very charged up. Everyone starts thinking ‘if he is doing it, we will too’,” Rana said later.

Siraj joined the party, one thing led to another, and Australia were bowled out 104. Just as important as Bumrah’s bowling was the manner in which the team helped each other on the field. Virat Kohli was sending a constant stream of suggestions the skipper’s way — some worked, some didn’t — but they were all invested, and they all wanted to contribute.

Make way for Jaiswal Bowling heroics aside, India knew that they would have to put on a batting performance for the ages the second time around. This is where they found a champion in Yashasvi Jaiswal. The 22-year-old left-hander, who had a dream start to his career with a century on debut in West Indies last year, was dismissed for a duck in the first innings. In the second, though, he took everything the Aussies could throw at him without flinching, even if that meant going against his attacking nature.

“I think this was his best Test knock so far because he has an attacking nature but in that second innings, he left a lot of balls as well. He took his time and batted deep. So that gives us a lot of confidence that you know he has an attacking game but he has patience as well and he’s ready to adapt and change,” Bumrah said later about his flawless 161.

Keep calm and talk to KLBut Jaiswal had his moments of self-doubt, and that is when KL Rahul came to his assistance. The two had a record 201-run stand for the opening wicket but one of them in 32 and the other is 22. There is a huge gap in experience and just when it looked like the focus was wavering, the older pro would step in with some words of advice.

“We have been playing together for a while, we all know each other well and talk between ourselves in the dressing room. Whenever I felt nervous in the middle, Rahul bhai was telling me calm down and breathe,” said Jaiswal. “It was helpful because you are going to get some good balls in these kinds of pitches.”

Return of the kingJaiswal built an innings to be proud of from that point on, as did a certain Virat Kohli. For 16 months, the former India skipper had not got a Test century, and his average in the home series against NZ was 15.5. But when the opportunity to bat long at the toughest state presented itself, Kohli answered the call with a ton that had some glimpses of his old imperious self.

I have said this before, Virat Kohli doesn’t need us, we need him,” Bumrah said. “He is an experienced player. This is his fourth or fifth tour. So he knows his cricket better than anyone else. He looked in good shape, he was mentally switched on.”

When the going gets tough...But most of all, India had a skipper who was more than ready to jump into the fire if his team required him to. He made the inroads in the first innings with three quick wickets and then repeated the dose in the second innings.

“Obviously, whenever tough scenarios come, I look at myself that how can I contribute. I look for answers… if I am going to bowl at this moment, what can I do? So in this moment, we were a new side, so I automatically wanted to put me in tough scenarios whenever we needed to do something. I was trying to put myself in that tough scenario to make the job a little bit easier for the new guys coming in,” Bumrah said.

A team is all about common interest that transcends the individual and in the heat of battle, and India became more than the sum of their parts. On a pitch widely regarded as the fastest in the world, a combination of legends, debutants and in-betweens showed it was more than up to speed. The win was down to everything coming together -- it was a Bumrah recipe; stewed by Jaiswal, seasoned by Kohli, and served by a unit that just wouldn’t give in.