Before this second Test I wrote that I wanted to see Pat Cummins show his leadership qualities because this was the most important challenge of his career.
Well he not only stepped up to the challenge, he led his team to a pulverising defeat inside seven sessions which has turned this series on its head.
Everything I was thinking about Australia after they were hammered in the first Test is now India’s problem heading into next week’s Test at the Gabba.
Jasprit Bumrah is under an injury cloud and that would be a huge blow for India if he can’t keep carrying their attack.
Australia were able to withstand the body blow of being without Josh Hazlewood for this match in Adelaide because they have Scott Boland ready to step in.
But even if India rush Mohammed Shami back from India from his own injury, they can ill afford to be without Bumrah.
Plus they have got question marks over the rest of their line-up now – they need to bring Rohit Sharma back to opener, probably a straight swap with KL Rahul. They will probably look at bringing Ravindra Jadeja back but does that mean Ravi Ashwin gets dropped or do they punt Arshit Rana after he struggled in Adelaide?
The heat is now on the Indian skipper with Sharma not just out cheaply in both innings himself but he needs to get his team back on track.
Australia now have the momentum and the most important thing for them now is to maintain it.
This is shaping up to be a humdinger of a series – we could have a repeat of a classic contest like the 2005 Ashes on our hands here.
Cummins, Head and Starc got all the headlines in Adelaide but it wasn’t just their efforts which set up the thumping 10-wicket victory.
Marnus Labuschagne was back in the runs with his half-century, Nathan McSweeney played some great shots in both his encouraging knocks and Boland was back on the spot straight away like he had never been out of Test cricket, collecting wickets with a minimum of fuss in trademark fasion.
But it all started with the skipper.
Pat Cummins celebrates his fifth wicket after removing Nitish Kumar Reddy. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Even when Australia rolled them out for 180, it was scarily similar to what they did in Perth.
I wanted Captain Pat to grab the new ball and set the tone. And I thought he bowled beautifully in the first innings. He only got a couple, but he got the bag and the five-for in the second dig.
It was a classic Cummins performance. The pace was up and his length was just a fraction fuller.
He was then able to use the bouncer better as a surprise tactic and picked up a few more that way.
The ball he bowled to get Sharma in the second innings was a beauty. The Indian captain didn’t do much wrong but it pitched on middle and hit the top of off.
As a batter facing Cummins you know that a delivery like that could happen at any time but stopping it is another matter.
Starc is the undisputed pink ball king. He was swinging it fast and late and it was similar for some of the batters in that scenario – there wasn’t a helluva lot they could do about it.
For him to get his best ever figures this for late in his career, it shows why he is one of the top quicks we’ve been able to produce.
But the crucial part of the match was the night session of the opening day when Labuschagne and McSweeney battled through until stumps.
If they were four or five down on day one, the Aussie boys would be bowling again much earlier and possibly have a deficit rather than a 157-run lead.
Travis Head celebrates after scoring a century. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Labuschagne was really gritting it out but the next day it was back to the Marnus of old.
Their partnership was worth its weight in gold because it allowed Heady to play his natural game.
India didn’t have any answers for him. Going back to the World Test Championship final last year that’s two hundreds and an 80 in three matches against them.
He’s won something like eight man of the match awards, which shows what a genuine match-winner he is.
I expect India will target him with the short ball more in Brisbane because at the moment on the bouncier pitches, he’s got their number.
Mohammed Siraj carried on a bit after getting him out on 140. If it was 30 years ago, you’d go, oh, that’s the fast bowler letting off steam after finally getting a wicket. But even then you’d go, oh, that’s pretty average.
Head had just played a great innings there and in this day and age, there’s just no room for the send-off.
The key now for Australia is to build on this momentum.
There is talk that Hazelwood might be fit for the Gabba, but Boland bowled so well so Hazlewood would have to be 100% fit or you would put him in cotton wool for the fourth Test in Melbourne.
Smith and Khawaja would like a few more runs to get back in form and Nathan Lyon didn’t have to do too much but all in all it was an impressive performance from the Aussies to not only bounce back but put the heat back on India heading to Brisbane.
If they had gone down 2-0 the series and possibly their World Test Championship hopes would have been over.
But now they have wind in their sails and are probably a slight favourite to end India’s streak of four straight series wins against them.