Adelaide: The time between matches is always an interesting phase. It flows quickly for the victors. It drags on for the losers. But in the end, it is the same time. The Perth humiliation, as some in the Australian media have taken to calling the result of the first Test, and the gap after it has meant both teams have had a chance to take a breather and reassess where they really are at.

Some might argue that Australia needed this more than India ahead of the Adelaide Test starting on December 6. But they’ve lost their best bowler Josh Hazlewood to a side strain and that might force a further re-evaluation of plans.

India, on the other hand, have no real concerns. If anything, they have been further strengthened with the return of skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. No other major worries at the moment either. The tour game went according to plan even though they didn’t get in as much cricket as they perhaps would have wanted in the build-up to the pink-ball Test.

But the one thing that almost everyone can agree on is that Australia would have had Jasprit Bumrah on their mind during this break. They would have gone over the videos, studied the data and obsessed over getting through his overs. In the recent series at home, New Zealand frustrated Bumrah and they won. If Australia can do that; if they can even get through his first spell, it would change the game, and perhaps the series.

“Jasprit is probably going to go down as one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game,” said Australia batter Travis Head, who made 89 in the second innings at Perth. “We’re finding that at the moment, how challenging he can be and it’s nice to play against that. It’s going to be nice to look back at your career and tell the grandkids that you faced him. Not a bad series to play in with him. Hopefully, I only have to face a few more times. He’s been challenging.”

But Head believes that everyone will need to find their own way to deal with Bumrah. His own way is not to premeditate. He, instead, looks to pick up cues and takes things as they come. It works for him too — since his 2018 debut against India at the Adelaide Oval, no batter has scored more than the 815 runs (avg 42.89) he has against India.

“I’m best when I just look at the cues, mate,” said Head, who spent the last few days getting into the Christmas spirit with friends and family. “I just like preparing to watch the ball and stay fresh mentally. And I think I’m lucky though (that) I’ve faced him a few times, so you just go back on that. So, I know what’s coming.”

At Perth, Head was one of the few Aussie batters to come out and play his own game. He wasn’t thinking about Bumrah or the other bowlers. He was just looking to play his shots, but that takes courage too. But would his method work for the others? Would he tell them?

“It’s just making sure that I’m prepared but it’s not like they’re coming to me for advice. Everyone goes about in different ways.”

Having given it some thought over the past few days, the Aussie batters will be curious whether the solutions they have come up with will work. In modern cricket, data allows players to close out gaps quickly, but because Bumrah is anything but copybook he presents different unorthodox problems each time he bowls. He isn’t standing still either.

But Head does have confidence in Australia’s ability to rise to a challenge.

“We’ve had some challenging times, had a couple of challenging Tests last year that we were able to get ourselves out of. But our heads aren’t in the clouds,” said Head. “We understand that a couple of Tests last (summer) could have gone either way so it’s a group that’s well balanced and knows where it’s at. We didn’t have a very good week, that’s fine, but we’ve got four more opportunities to do it.”

The first of those opportunities is going to be in Adelaide, a venue where Head has a fabulous record. The 30-year-old currently averages 70.57 in Tests at the venue, but the pink ball and some rain might add an unexpected variable to the mix.

“Growing up and playing on this wicket, it probably suits my game a bit more being (shorter) square of the wicket and the way that ball can react off the wicket… hopefully I can roll out the same sort of performances.”

And depending on the result, we’ll perhaps know which team made the most of the time leading up to the match. The countdown starts now.

Read Also: Rafael Nadal to follow Andy Murray’s footsteps and take up coaching? Former player makes huge prediction

HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? CHOOSE YOUR EMOTICON !