10 Reasons for India's record-breaking win at Adelaide

5. The dogged approach of the Indian openers in the second innings

Vijay and Rahul shielded the middle order against the new ball in the second innings

The Adelaide Test was described by experts as a match where the new ball was supposed to play a big role in determining the course of the match. As the ball got older, it was supposed to do nothing except for aiding the batsmen to settle down and play longer innings.

In that respect, it was of paramount significance for the Indian openers to survive the new ball attack of the Australians in the second innings to build upon the slender first-innings lead of 15. A couple of early wickets in the second innings for the Australians would have nullified India’s marginal advantage. Besides, it would have led to a top-order collapse.

Both Vijay and K.L. Rahul showed admirable patience in playing out the new ball in the second innings. They put on 63 runs for the first wicket and in the process played out 18 overs of the new ball.

After surviving his initial few balls, K.L. Rahul moved into his natural attacking instincts which helped the scoreboard to move along. Though the manner of dismissal for the two Indian openers in the second innings was equally reckless as in the first innings, they did their job by shielding the Indian middle order against the new ball.