India, under the leadership of stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah, floored the mighty Australian in Perth to gain an early unassailable 1-0 lead in the first Test of the five-match BGT 2024-25 series. With the attention now turning to Adelaide for the second Test, visuals of India's in-famous 36-10 loom large.

Despite conceding a sizeable first-innings lead, Australian quicks came all guns blazing to skittle India cheaply for 36, which remains to be the lowest-ever score achieved by a full-member nation in Test cricket's 147-year-long history. 

See also: 'We're still no.1' Cummins refutes rift claims despite a brutal 295-run hammering at Perth

Damian Hough's thoughts on the Adelaide pitch

As the countdown for the all-important pink-ball Test approaches its fag end, Adelaide Oval pitch curator Damian Hough makes a bold claim. Hough anticipates the pitch to behave evenly offering ample assistance to both the batters and the bowlers alike. However, he refrained from picking his favorite side. 

"No, I don’t know who has the upper hand. May the best team win. But yeah, look, we’re just trying to produce a typical Adelaide Oval pitch, so hopefully, there’s something in it for everyone. Since 2015, we’ve probably tried to prepare the same style and characteristics of pitches for all longer formats of cricket, whether it’s Test matches or first-class cricket."

Hough further stressed that since the advent of day-night Test matches in 2015, he has had to remodel his strategy and do away with drop-in pitches which at the time was seen as a prevalent concept. 

A peek into the day-night Test record of India & Australia

Australia are arguably the most successful team in day-night Test cricket having a near-invincible win record of nearly 92%. In 12 D/N Tests, Australia have managed to win 11 while their sole defeat came against West Indies at the Gabba earlier this year.

India, on the other hand, have played four and won three so far with their biggest defeat being at the Adelaide four years ago. On the backdrop of a famous win in Perth, it is highly unlikely that we will see such a disastrous show from them again but given India's stance in the WTC points table, the stakes are high and the visitors can't afford to lower their guard against a side who are now seeking an imminent revenge.