Brisbane: A day that started with so much promise at the Gabba ended as a damp squib and the bigger concern is that the forecast for the rest of the Test isn’t great either.
In the 13.2 overs bowled on Day 1 of the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Australia made their way to 28/0. With less than 15 overs being bowled, a full refund was in order for the 30,185 fans who turned up, and that explained why they waited so long to abandon play for Saturday. As luck would have it, around 15 minutes after play was called off, the rain stopped.
But at least the third Test got off to a start — it was cloudy and grey but there was no rain around in the morning. And the early enthusiasm of a first-day morning is always about the toss and who will make it to the playing XI.
India won the toss and Rohit Sharma elected to bowl on a wicket that Shubman Gill had said looked good for batting. The team list showed that Akash Deep and Ravindra Jadeja had found a place in the eleven.
“It’s overcast. A little bit of grass and it looks a little soft as well, and try and see what we can do with the ball upfront,” said Rohit at the toss.
The statistics might also have influenced India’s decision with teams bowling first having won six of the last seven here.
The changes weren’t a complete surprise. Akash Deep had been bowling with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in the same net before the game while Harshit Rana was bowling in an adjacent one. He just looked a yard quicker than Harshit, who did take a bit of a hammering at Adelaide too.
The Jadeja decision is more interesting as Washington Sundar, just like Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, would have also felt nostalgic at the Gabba. His performance in the last Test between the two sides at the venue isn’t talked about as much but it was pretty important.
But talk over the decisions soon faded into the background as the cricket began. India would have counted on Bumrah to make some early inroads, but he just wasn’t as incisive as he has been in the series so far. And to add to matters, the pitch looked rather good for batting. There was bounce in the wicket but it could be trusted. Crucially though, there wasn’t much lateral movement.
This meant that there were relatively fewer plays and misses, and even in the short period of time that play was possible, batting against the new ball looked far easier than it was in Perth or in Adelaide.
The first stoppage of play came after 5.3 overs and India’s bowlers just weren’t pitching it up initially. But the break gave them a chance to brainstorm on the boundary line. Rohit, Bumrah and Pant were initially seen chatting pretty animatedly before Virat Kohli joined the conversation as well.
The lines and the lengths were better after the break, and even though they kept the runs down, the lack of wickets wasn’t ideal. This should have India worried but for now, they’d just be happy to get some cricket in. If the sun does come out, the pitch will get quicker but there is no guarantee that will happen.
The forecast for Day 2 isn’t as bad but the remaining days will be rain interrupted. Time, however, is a luxury in modern cricket and one never quite knows when another collapse is coming. And that will ensure that neither the team nor the fans will take it easy.
