BRISBANE In boxing, it usually takes a round or two to figure your opponent out - only after that does the bout truly begin. It's the same in tennis - at the Grand Slam level - the first two sets against a strong opponent are just about whetting the appetite; the real stuff comes in the third, fourth and fifth sets. And in a way, cricket in a five-Test series is no different.
The first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy were the sides exchanging blows, feeling each other out, seeing what they had each prepared for the series. The first blow was landed by Jasprit Bumrah and India in Perth. The second by Travis Head and Mitchell Starc at Adelaide. And now, as the cricket moves to Brisbane, there is a certain sense of the series reaching a tipping point. This is perhaps where one of the teams might gain a psychological advantage; this is where they might pull away.
"I think a couple of key moments can really compound matters and make the game look further apart than perhaps they were," said Australia skipper Pat Cummins on Friday. "We spoke about that...in the first Test, if we had got through the first evening, maybe the sun's out and we have a few more wickets and maybe we could have had a first innings lead. It's be the same in Adelaide. Nathan and Marnus got through the first evening and Trav (Travis Head) and a few cashed in the next day...that really compounds it. But I think the margins (of victories) can throw you off a bit."
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