Sweaty, happy men attired in whites, relishing a triumph, and huddling together with their captain. Virat Kohli tweets this image from the climax of the first Test that concluded at the Adelaide Oval on Monday. He writes:  Good win. Onto the next one.

Celebrate, but move on, is his credo. Kohli is aware that a hard-fought victory s delirium can trigger complacence.

Bumps ahead

India held its nerve in the first Test and leads 1-0, but the next set of five-day scorchers at Perth (from Friday), Melbourne and Sydney, need to be countered.

The series is alive and it would be prudent to remember the England tour of 2014.

India drew at Nottingham and won the second Test at Lord s, riding on Ajinkya Rahane s hundred and Ishant Sharma s bouncers. Ravindra Jadeja after scoring a swashbuckling fifty, twirled his bat like a Rajput s sword. There was defiance and the empire had struck back. But, England won the next three and that surreal evening at London, now evokes a wistful sigh.

Cut to the present, the fine start at Adelaide, hopefully will form the building blocks of an enduring legacy for Kohli and his men.

India has been dominant at home. It is a trait that travelled across the seas, both to Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

But, this year, when the Indians breezed out of the immigration counters in South Africa and England, optimistic talk floundered around weak performances.

The first Test at Cape Town s Newlands was lost by 72 runs. There was a repeat act in the first Test at Birmingham, the margin of defeat being 31. Those series were lost.

The next three weeks present an opportunity for India to show mettle.

Aussies in a pickle

Introspecting over the limits of aggressive behaviour, and deeply missing Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia is in a pickle. Yet, the Aussies are always up for a tough scrap and it was reiterated at Adelaide. India can applaud its traditional batsmen like Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane.

Pujara s ton was one for the ages, soaked in the rugged spirit of Steve Waugh and Rahul Dravid. Patience was his ally, a smile his riposte when Mitchell Starc and company made not-so-polite enquiries about a few misses.

Rahane came into his own in the second innings. It is heartening that the duo, benched in the past by a management obsessed with kinetic energy and rapid runs, has revealed steel.