The India team arrived in Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in batches, with most players in the country by November 12. Since then, 40 days have passed and three Test matches have been played. Yet, the players have only been on the field for 682.1 overs.

Assuming an average day of Test cricket consists of 90 overs, that amounts to less than eight days worth of cricket. Which in turn averages out to less than three days per Test match.

When you picture a Test series in Australia, you picture long, attritional days of cricket if the visiting team is on a relatively equal footing as the hosts, and long, demoralising days of cricket if they are not. In this series, India have not been far behind Australia, as the scoreline of 1-1 suggests, but days have been anything but long. The 682.1 overs bowled so far is the lowest number in a series of three or more games in Australia, ever.

While rain played a significant part in Brisbane, it did not play any in Perth or Adelaide. The salient factor in why so few overs have been played is that the actual cricket played has been uncharacteristically chaotic, and as a consequence has been dizzyingly quick. It's been akin two grandmasters throwing caution, tact, and patience to the wind and finally giving in to how they’ve always wanted to play, sacrificing and exchanging pieces on the board with every other move.

The new version of the Kookaburra ball has been a factor, having made batting tougher with its more pronounced seam. Between 2000-2019, the Test batting average in Australia was 34.03. From the start of 2020 to the start of this series, it fell down to 27.66. Naturally, the rate of scoring also saw a decline - from 3.16 to 3.02 in the respective time-frames. The trend of declining averages has continued in this series, but that of declining scoring rates has not.

A wicket has cost 24.64 runs in the three Tests so far. But runs have come at 3.31 runs per over. This is the fastest-scoring series in Australia since the turn of the decade, which is approximately when the Kookaburra was updated. Seam-bowling of the highest quality has been on display across both sides, and batters have adopted the age-old doctrine of attack is the best form of defence, not knowing which ball would have their name written on it. Travis Head (94.23), Nitish Kumar Reddy (72.17), Shubman Gill (71.42), and Alex Carey (70.74) have led the charge, all striking above 70. Overall, 10 batters have struck above 60, and eight of them have scored more than 50 runs doing so.

The general pattern of play in Australia is that Josh Hazlewood would wear the opposition down with his metronomic accuracy, Pat Cummins would almost always be at his relentless best, not allowing any breathing space to batters, Mitchell Starc would be the erratic strike bowler, and Nathan Lyon would chug away with regular wickets at one end as the three quicks rotated amongst themselves at the other. That pattern has gone for a toss in this series.

Cummins has gone for 3.74 runs per over, nearly a run more than his career economy of 2.91. He has only ever conceded at a higher rate than this in one Test series - the 2023 Ashes. At home, this is the most expensive Cummins has been by a distance - with the 2019-20 Pakistan series coming next on the list at 3.18 runs per over.

Starc has had his best Test series against India, having picked up 14 wickets at 22.85 so far. Never before has he averaged less than 30 in a series against them where he has played multiple Tests. Starc’s accuracy, not one of his strongest fortes, has been the highlight. He has averaged better than this in a series of three or more matches only twice before - against New Zealand at home in 2019-20 (17.86), and against Sri Lanka away in 2016 (15.16).

Hazlewood, who is now out of the series due an injury, conceded 1.97 runs per over in the two games he played, 0.8 less than his career economy, and his personal best in a home Test series where he has played multiple games. Nathan Lyon, who hasn’t had a whole lot to do, averages 60 with just three wickets in three matches, his worst in a home Test series and second-worst ever after the 2014-15 series against Pakistan in the UAE.

Nothing has been normal.

For India, Jasprit Bumrah has often looked like the sole warrior with the ball in hand, taking 21 wickets at an astonishing average of 10.90. The magnitude of his dominance has been so unprecedented that only once before has a bowler taken more wickets at a better average than him in a series in Australia, home or away. And that happened 93 years ago.

It is perhaps this dominance that has worked against his own teammates, making them look worse than they have actually been. Mohammed Siraj, for example, has taken 13 wickets at 23.92 in this series so far. That’s one wicket less than Cummins and Starc, at a better average than the former and just a run per wicket worse than the latter. All three of them have struck every 38 balls. This is also the best Siraj has averaged in a series where he has played three or more Tests. And yet, the dominating narrative has been that he hasn’t looked the part.

On the batting front, India’s two senior-most players have largely struggled. That’s not the surprising bit. The surprising bit has been that Rishabh Pant, India’s hero in their last trip to Australia and arguably their most reliable Test batter, has struggled as well. From three Tests, he currently averages 19.20 with no 50-plus score. This is his worst average in a series where he has played three or more games and it is also the first time he has gone three Test matches in a series without scoring a 50.

Restoring an iota of normalcy to all this chaos have been a Virat Kohli hundred and a Steve Smith hundred, both coming at a time when the two legends of the game have been struggling with their form.

At 1-1 with two Tests to go, off-field tensions rising, a World Test Championship final spot on the line, and the bright red Kookaburra loving every alliance with the fresh green surfaces on offer, the endgame only promises to be more chaotic than the opening and the middle. The 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy might not be here for a long time, but it sure is for a good time.

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.