In the middle of what were likely spirited celebrations in the Adelaide Oval dressing rooms, there would surely have been a minute or two spared for relief.

Such was the pressure that was building around the Australian team, this match was being billed in some quarters as its most important for a generation. Lose this one, after all that came before in Perth, and the wolves would be at the door.

It's easy to sit back and wonder what all the fuss was about. A 10-wicket win in the second Test, completed in less than seven sessions of play is one hell of a way to clap back at all the haters and doubters out there.

The Australian team has operated only in extremes so far in this series, and as such we have seen its very best and its absolute worst. As ever in cases like this, the real identity of this side will be somewhere in the middle.

So what did we actually learn from the Adelaide Test? What questions were answered and what clarity was gained?

Perhaps the biggest takeaway was the performance of Marnus Labuschagne, whose gritty evening knock on day one and enlivened afternoon showing on day two were in many ways just as important as Travis Head's swashbuckling century.

Australia dominated almost all of this Test, but if you broke it down into only the night sessions you got a clear picture of where the game was won — Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney were able to step up and be counted on night one, while India's top order fell to bits on night two.

McSweeney is another tick in the plus column for Australia in this Test. He may not necessarily be a long-term opener for Australia, but he has the making of a long-term Test player somewhere in that top order.

Neither men made a century in Adelaide, but the character they showed — as well as improved technique in both cases — will likely earn them selection for the rest of this summer. A headache removed for the selectors.

Beyond that though, not a whole lot has changed.

Real question marks persist around Steve Smith, not to the point of omitting him but certainly in recognising him as a faded force with the bat.

There are still some elite innings left in Smith at Test level, of that there is little doubt. But when they come they will be the final throes, nostalgic throwbacks to the time when he was unfathomably consistent and impossibly prolific with every innings, rather than a career renaissance.

Usman Khawaja is in a similar boat, and in other circumstances would be considered in need of a score. But McSweeney needs him as an experienced opening partner and so any discussion about Khawaja's position will be parked until the end of the summer.

We certainly didn't learn anything we didn't already know about Head. Those sorts of innings are his trademark by now, and every time he strides to the crease he will have a crack at replicating it. India knows that better than most.

Nobody ever doubted the quality of the bowlers. For as long as they are playing professional cricket they will be consistently good and regularly great.

The only issue regarding the bowlers is the fact they can't all play forever, and what happens after that nobody knows. But we've all collectively agreed as a nation that we will worry about that later — for now we are content in borrowing happiness from the future.

And so we pack this party up and take it over to Brisbane, with the series now deadlocked and the on-field temperatures turned up just a little bit.

Such a short Test needed a bit of a sideshow to carry interest, and both Head and Mohammed Siraj duly obliged.

It was, of course, a storm in a teacup. An impulsive moment of on-field emotion, a subsequent miscommunication via a game of telephone, all wrapped up with a little chat and a hug on day three.

From what is visible to us, here's what seems to have happened — Siraj was frustrated by getting carted by Head all day Saturday, and released that frustration in a slightly over-the-top celebration. Head was caught off guard by that and offered up an incredibly sarcastic "well bowled, mate," which could easily be translated to "I just scored 140, but go off".

Siraj then gave him the "off you pop" gesture with his hand — which, given the context of the game, was a bit rich — and then Head promptly cussed him out. Everyone was a bit naughty, and Head pretty much fessed up to as much after the second day's play.

Siraj seems to have received a poorly translated second-hand account of Head's confession, which led him to believe Head claimed total innocence, which he understandably felt was akin to lying. Head then clarified his position in a brief chat from short leg on Saturday, and now everyone can get on with their lives.

Except that's not how these things work. When Siraj arrives at the Gabba on Saturday, rightly or wrongly he is going to get both barrels from the home crowd. That's only going to fire the combustible quick up further, and more clashes with the Aussies are inevitable.

Which really is no bad thing, as the series has now come to life. Australia still needs to defy history to turn things around into a winning position, but momentum has certainly swung back in the hosts' direction.

All we are now waiting for is both of these teams to hit peak performance at the same time. With tension dialled up, the subplots established and glimpses of form flashed from both sides, we might be on the verge of a special contest.

Throughout the summer, we'll look back at some of the best stories and share our own favourite moments from Australia and India's cricket history.

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