And mind you, there are keen takers of Test cricket, for they are the outliers but they fell in love with the very game because of the vagaries of the format and its spellbinding nature. Test cricket epitomizes life, nothing comes easy but there is nothing that can't be achieved with application, patience and hard work. There is no hurry, nothing remains obscure, for every flaw, there is a whole lot of time to keep hammering the weak links until the wheels come off. You have to earn every run, every session, every fifty, every hundred, every wicket, and every catch. But, when you achieve it, after long hours of grinding, the ebbs and flows of the game, the roller-coaster journey, it's truly worth it.

Indian batting was completely blown away in New Zealand, on the same lines as South Africa and England in recent years. It was remarkably shambolic as none of the batsmen averaged more than 25.5 in the series and it was evident that they had lost the battle in their head before even turning up on the 22 yards. But, today it was completely contrasting India which was batting in the middle today, after the early loss of Prithvi Shaw. And an Indian batting, which had clear plans to counter challenges thrown at them with the right amount preparation that was there to see. This was a batting unit, which breathed confidence as in the 2018/19 side that had beaten Australian than ones getting bruised black and blue in New Zealand, England or South Africa. 

Australians tried hard to play with the footwork of Agarwal and Pujara in the beginning. The effort was to keep planting seeds of doubt in their head. It's not easy to commit to playing on the front foot when bowlers like Starc and Hazlewood keep batsmen guessing about their lengths, which they can pull back and surprise batsmen with any time. James Pattinson had done the same with Pujara in the warm-up game. But, Agarwal and Pujara were ready to bat time, lunge forward with confidence unlike Shaw, and kept leaving the ball with utmost patience and care on the fifth stump line. 

There are some who might question the worth of Agarwal's 17 and Pujara's 43? Well, for starters having Kohli out in 19th over is far better than in the first 10. Pujara's knock was also important as it helped wear down Aussie bowlers. As per Cricviz, when Australia's expected wicket total was 5.2 wickets, India had lost only a couple. With the challenge of batting in the twilight, it was imperative not to expose lower-middle-order early with no Pant and Jadeja at seven and eighth position, which was the theme of Pujara's innings. 

All this ensured that India went into the twilight phase in a decent position, with as many as 43 leaves on Day 1, which is just his second-best from Trent Bridge in 2018. Just not that, Kohli ensured that the Australian bowlers did not endure false shots off his willow, with just 10.5% percentage of false shots, which is way less than the 17% that is usually endured in the country under the lights. 

Ajinkya Rahane, who has had his share of problems against spinners also rose up to the occasion. He batted aggressively against Lyon, timed the ball well against pacers, and had softer hands than getting out softly like in New Zealand, after India for the most part of the day curbed their aggression too far against the off-spinner, who seemingly started pressing his case on just the first day. 

This was an important day for India in the context of the Test with the inexperience they had, and the fear of the unknown that it brings with itself. India might not have done spectacularly well with the advantage they got but shown that they have the puzzles to solve the pink-ball mystery and if they fine-tune a few things here and there, the ghosts of New Zealand will wear off quickly from the public memory and will leave a long-lasting impression on the critics.