But Bumrah didn’t come out for a second over. He wasn’t to be seen for the next 15, 20, 30, 40 minutes. After which, around 2.00 pm, he came out with the team doctor and a security officer in two, boarded an SUV and was driven to a nearby hospital for scans necessitated, information filtered in later, by back spasms. It was a seminal moment in the day, in the Test, in the series.

One-man bowling attack

Bumrah isn’t just the best bowler in the world right now, he is also India’s captain for the final Test against Australia. There is still a series to be drawn, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be retained. The 31-year-old began Saturday’s day two of the final Test at the SCG with 31 wickets in the series and quickly made it 32 when he accounted for Marnus Labuschagne within 16 minutes of the start.

Perhaps stung to the quick by India being labelled a one-man bowling attack, the man with 16 wickets before this Test decided to put his hand up and support his mate. Mohammed Siraj’s efforts have often gone under the radar but with Bumrah in his ear, the Hyderabadi decided it was time to correct that anomaly. In the same over, he packed off Sam Konstas and Travis Head with top-class deliveries. Australia were 39 for four, India were catching everything, they were buzzing, a crowd of more than 47,000 held its collective breath.

All this while, as Bumrah was focusing on the bowling and the bowling group, Kohli was conducting an on-field orchestra, moving pieces here, shifting them there. At times, he did Bumrah’s thinking for him, but only because Bumrah allowed him to. And when Prasidh Krishna ended a threatening fifth-wicket stand by dismissing Steve Smith at the stroke of lunch, India were fired up.

Then came the Bumrah bummer. How would the team respond? How would the bowlers stack up? Where would the wickets come from? Who would ensure the energy levels didn’t drop, the shoulders didn’t droop?

Well, we know the answer to the last one, don’t we?

His bat might have been overcome by ice, but the fire in Kohli is still burning bright. When Bumrah entrusted him with the leadership duties and exited the ground, Kohli refamiliarised himself with the scent of battle, re-engaged with his tactical skills, reprised the glory days when he was the all-format captain and leader. He spoke to his troops, individually and collectively, one rousing peptalk after the drinks break of the middle session bringing out the inspirer in him.

In theory, he didn’t have a great deal to work with, apart from Siraj. A fast bowler playing his first Test in one year, a medium-pacer who has been used sparingly. But Kohli is a master at making do with the resources at his disposal, a master at pulling strings and getting his troops to lift themselves. That’s the stage in which he thrives the most, the cricket ground his battlefield and he the general to whom inspiring his troops comes naturally.

Siraj, Prasidh and Nitish Kumar Reddy realised the significance of the moment. Maybe they didn’t feel so, but the general impression was that the Indian bowling, indeed the Indian team, was riding piggyback on Bumrah. Now, the genius wasn’t around to bail them out. Now, they had a chance to show what they could do. On their own, without the giant shadow of the great man looming over them.

So, Siraj thought little of bowling a long spell even though he had bled from his little finger while trying to stop a ball on his follow through earlier in the day. So, Prasidh retrained his radar, bowled fuller and reaped rewards. And so, Nitish revved it up, producing two terrific consecutive short balls to get rid of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Australia might have believed that, with Bumrah off the park, a lead of some substance wasn’t unrealistic. They were 110 for five, impressive debutant Beau Webster and pugnacious wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey holding fort, when India’s captain went off. Still 75 behind, still a dicey track to negotiate, but no Bumrah, no opposition talisman.

But they hadn’t reckoned with the passion and skills of Bumrah’s support cast. With the surefire catching of the Indians, led by KL Rahul with four terrific grabs. And the adrenaline surge of Kohli, temporarily the captain again of a team of whom he is also statistically the most successful.