India vs Australia: Indian cricket hits a new low at Adelaide

New Delhi, December 19: A Monday and Saturday separated by 46 years and a few months.

Indian cricket felt humiliated at Lord's on June 24, 1974 and one could not escape that feeling on December 19, 2020.

It was 42, the lowest Indian total back then against England, and it's 36, the new low that Indian cricket hit on the day against Australia at Adeliade.

On that day, the Indian innings terminated at 9 down with B S Chandrasekhar being "absent hurt". On Saturday, it was Mohammed Shami, who had to retire hurt.

That Thursday saw Geoff Arnold get four and Chris Old snap five in an inspired spell of swing bowling on a green top at Lord's. This Saturday had Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins give a display of quality seam bowling on a bouncy track.

"I don't have any recollection of that match. Just that we played badly and dukh bhari baatein yaad karne ka kya faayda (what's the use of remembering something that hurts so much)," Madan Lal, who was a part of that match, told PTI news agency.

The 42 all-out happened in the second Test and India lost the next in Birmingham to lose the series 0-3. Ajit Wadekar was sacked from captaincy and dropped from not only the national team but also the West Zone side.

Unable to take this frontal humiliation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Wadekar announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. It was a forgettable Monday in 1974 that no one saw coming.

Just like the Saturday, when Kohli was at his wits end to explain what exactly went wrong.

India still have time to recoup as the next match -- the traditional Boxing Day Test at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground -- is a week away.

But with Kohli returning home, availing paternal leave, it remains to be seen if his deputy Ajinkya Rahane can lift the sagging morale of a team which was totally battered and bruised by the hosts.