Tim Paine’s fifty reduces the first innings lead for India
First Test Australia Vs India Pink Test at Adelaide – Second Day
MA Starc retuned with four for 53 in this test to provide the seventh occasion of his capturing four or more wickets in an innings of a Pink Ball Test. All such occasions are tabulated below
| No | W-R | I | Oppn | Ground | Start Date |
| 1 | 4-088 | 3 | SAF | Adelaide | 24 Nov 2016 |
| 2 | 4-119 | 4 | Pak | Brisbane | 15 Dec 2016 |
| 3 | 5-088 | 4 | Eng | Adelaide | 02 Dec 2017 |
| 4 | 6-066 | 2 | Pak | Adelaide | 29 Nov 2019 |
| 5 | 5-052 | 2 | NZl | Perth | 12 Dec 2019 |
| 6 | 4-045 | 4 | NZl | Perth | 12 Dec 2019 |
| 7 | 4-053 | 1 | Ind | Adelaide | 17 Dec 2020 |
He remains the only bowler to capture four wickets in an innings on seven occasions in Pink Ball tests.
TM Paine scored 73 not out in this test to provide the eighth occasion of a wicket keeper batsman scoring a fifty in an innings of a Pink Ball Test. It also provides his second fifty in a Pink Ball Test. Prior to this he had scored 57 against England in Dec 2017. TM Paine became the third wicketkeeper batsman to score fifties on two occasions after N Dickwella and Sarfraz Ahmed. The following table lists the performance of these three wicketkeeper batsmen.
| No | No | Player | R | I | Team | Oppn | Ground | Mon/Year |
| 1 | 1 | N Dickwella | 52 | 1 | Srl | Pak | Dub-DSC | Oct 2017 |
| 2 | N Dickwella | 64 | 1 | Srl | Aus | Brisbane | Jan 2019 | |
| 2 | 1 | TD Paine | 57 | 1 | Aus | Eng | Adelaide | Dec 2017 |
| 2 | TD Paine | 73* | 2 | Aus | Ind | Adelaide | Dec 2020 | |
| 3 | 1 | S Ahmed | 59* | 2 | Pak | Aus | Brisbane | Dec 2016 |
| 2 | S Ahmed | 68 | 4 | Pak | Srl | Dub-DSC | Oct 2017 |
TM Paine scored 73 not out in this test to provide the 16th occasion of a captain scoring a fifty in an innings of a Pink Ball Test.
V Kohli scored 74 and TM Paine scored 73 not out test in the first and second innings of this test to provide the second occasion of rival captains scoring fifties in the first and second innings of a Pink Ball Test. It also provides the fifth occasion of rival captains scoring fifties in a Pink Ball Test.
TM Paine scored 73 not out in this test to provide the second occasion of a captain wicket keeper batsman scoring a fifty in an innings of a Pink Ball Test. Prior to this Sarfraz Ahmed of Pakistan had scored 68 against Sri Lanka at Dub-DSC in Oct 2017
| No | No | Player | R | I | Team | Oppn | Ground | Mon/Year |
| 1 | *+ | TD Paine | 73* | 2 | Aus | Ind | Adelaide | Dec 2020 |
| 2 | *+ | S Ahmed | 68 | 4 | Pak | Srl | Dub-DSC | Oct 2017 |
R Ashwin captured four for 55 in Australia’s first innings to provide the 40th occasion of a bowler capturing four wickets in an innings in the Pink Ball Test. It also provides the fourth occasion of an Indian bowler capturing four or more wickets in an innings in the Pink Ball test
| No | Player | W-R | I | Oppn | Ground | Start Date |
| 1 | I Sharma | 5-22 | 1 | Ban | Kolkata | 22 Nov 2019 |
| 2 | I Sharma | 4-56 | 3 | Ban | Kolkata | 22 Nov 2019 |
| 3 | UT Yadav | 5-53 | 3 | Ban | Kolkata | 22 Nov 2019 |
| 4 | R Ashwin | 4-55 | 2 | Aus | Adelaide | 17 Dec 2020 |
It also provides the tenth occasion of a bowler capturing four or more wickets in an innings in a Pink Ball Test against Australia and the fourth such occasion in a Pink Ball Test at Adelaide.
It also provides the tenth occasion of a spin bowler capturing four or more wickets in an innings in a Pink Ball Test and also the first occasion of a spin bowler capturing four or more wickets in a Pink Ball Test against Australia
R Ashwin’s four wicket haul in this test fetched him an aggregate of 81 wickets against Australia. He became the third Indian bowler to capture 80 plus wickets against Australia. Others are A Kumble {111} and Harbhajan Singh {95}
R Ashwin and UT Yadav joined the list of Indian bowlers who have captured an aggregate of 30 plus wickets against Australia in Australia. The following table lists the eight bowlers.
| No | Player | Mat | Ins | Balls | Runs | W | F | T |
| 1 | N Kapil Dev | 11 | 21 | 3137 | 1254 | 51 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | A Kumble | 10 | 18 | 3204 | 1849 | 49 | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | BS Bedi | 07 | 14 | 2391 | 0963 | 35 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | R Ashwin | 08 | 13 | 2667 | 1353 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Mohd Shami | 08 | 15 | 1681 | 0997 | 31 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | EAS Prasanna | 08 | 15 | 2561 | 0965 | 31 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | I Sharma | 13 | 23 | 2727 | 1505 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | UT Yadav | 09 | 15 | 1738 | 1278 | 30 | 1 | 0 |
R Ashwin became the fourth Indian spin bowler to capture 30 plus wickets against Australia in Australia.
| No | Player | Mat | Ins | Balls | Runs | W | F | T |
| 1 | A Kumble | 10 | 18 | 3204 | 1849 | 49 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | BS Bedi | 07 | 14 | 2391 | 0963 | 35 | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | R Ashwin | 08 | 13 | 2667 | 1353 | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | EAS Prasanna | 08 | 15 | 2561 | 0965 | 31 | 2 | 0 |
MS Wade and JA Burns opened Australia’s innings to provide the 245th opening pair for Australia. They also became the 44th Australia’s opening pair against India and also became the Australia’s sixth opening pair in Pink Ball Tests.
MS Wade opened for the first time in his test career. This was his 33rd test and his 56th innings.
Australia capped C Green for this test. He became the 459th cricketer to represent Australia in tests and also became the 53rd cricketer to make his test debut against India.
Australia capped C Green for this test. He became the 294th cricketer to represent Australia in tests on home soil and also became the 36th cricketer to make his test debut against India on home soil.
Australia capped C Green for this test. He became the 48th cricketer to represent Australia in tests at Adelaide and also became the 12th cricketer to make his test debut against India at Adelaide.
V Kohli pouched two catches in Australia’s first innings in this test which fetched him 20 catches against Australia. He became the fifth Indian fieldsman – other than the wicket keepers – to pouch 20 plus catches against Australia. Others are – R Dravid {46}, VVS Laxman {33}, SR Tendulkar {23} and V Sehwag {22}
V Kohli pouched two catches in Australia’s first innings in this test which fetched him 55 catches while leading India. He is one of the two Indian captains who have pouched 50 plus catches in tests after M Azharuddin. M Azharuddin has pouched 50 catches.
V Kohli pouched two catches in Australia’s first innings in this test which fetched him eleven catches against Australia while leading India. He now owns the record for most catches by an Indian captain against Australia. He went past M Azharuddin who has pouched nine catches against Australia while leading India.
V Kohli’s knock of 74 in India’s first innings contained eight boundary fours which fetched him 150 boundary fours against Australia on away soil. He became the third Indian batsman to score 150 boundary fours against Australia on away soil. Others are – SR Tendulkar {209} and V Sehwag {165}
V Kohli’s knock of 74 in India’s first innings fetched him an aggregate of 5216 runs while leading India. He now occupies the fifth place in the list of captains who have scored most runs. Other captains to score more than V Kohli are – GC Smith {8659}, AR Border {6623}, RT Ponting {6542} and CH Lloyd {5233}. V Kohli went past SP Fleming’s aggregate of 5156 runs on his way to the fifth place.