The 2014 Test in Adelaide between Australia and India in December was quite an emotional affair. Just a couple of weeks ago before the Test, Australia batsman Phil Hughes had passed away after getting hit by a delivery from paceman Sean Abbott during a Sheffield Shield match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The then, India skipper MS Dhoni was rested for the first Test in the series against Australia as he was recuperating from a previous injury, which meant Virat Kohli had to lead the side in Adelaide against the mighty Aussies.
It was for the first time Kohli was leading the team in a Test match. In a recent post on Instagram, Kohli recalled the encounter describing it as a ‘very special and important Test’.
“Throwback to this very special and important test in our journey as the test team that we are today. Adelaide 2014 was a game filled with emotion on both sides and an amazing one for people to watch too,” the India captain wrote.
{{/usCountry}}“Throwback to this very special and important test in our journey as the test team that we are today. Adelaide 2014 was a game filled with emotion on both sides and an amazing one for people to watch too,” the India captain wrote.
{{/usCountry}}The match ended in Australia’s favour after a tense-five day affair. Kohli scored two hundreds in the match, registering 115 in the first innings, and then following it up with a 141-run knock in the second innings. But it was not enough for India to chase down the total of 364. India were bundled out for 315 in the 2nd innings as Australia won the Test by 48 runs.
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“Although we didn’t cross the line being so close, it taught us that anything is possible if we put our mind to it because we committed to doing something which seemed very difficult to begin with but almost pulled it off,” Kohli wrote.
“All of us committed to it. This will always remain a very important milestone in our journey as a test side,” he further added.
India went on to lose the four-match series 0-2. Just four years later, in 2018/19, under Kohli, India became the first Asian team to register a Test series win Down Under, defeating Tim Paine’s side 2-1.