India have clawed their way back into the third Test after rain delays have hampered proceedings at the Gabba this weekend.
But two Aussie cricket greats have been left ‘frustrated’ at multiple officiating decisions, after rain and bad light plagued day four at the Gabba.
The tourists avoided a follow-on despite being reduced to 213-9 late on in the day. They needed 33 runs to make Australia bat again, but Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep weathered the hosts’ bowling attack, taking India past the follow-on mark.
Relief subsequently erupted in the Indian changing room, with Virat Kohli seen high-fiving team-mates and coaches.
Bumrah bravely slogged Pat Cummins for six at one stage, sending a huge shot high up into the darkening Brisbane sky, while Deep was particularly excellent, hitting 27 runs off 31 balls.
Rain has caused havoc at the Gabba this week, causing around 15 delays to the third Test
Play was stopped several times on day three and four, with India fighting back late on to avoid a follow-on
But just one delivery later, officials decided to call time on proceedings at approximately 5.52pm due to bad light.
It was a call that left Fox Cricket commentator Adam Gilchrist baffled, with the ex-Test cricket star lashing out at match officials.
‘Another interesting statement about cricket and its rules, he’s just hit Pat Cummins out of the ground, two deliveries later they say it’s unfit for play,’ Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket.
‘I’m stunned,’ he added.
It came after a spate of rain delays hampered the fourth Test in Brisbane, with Kerry O’Keefe blasting match officials over how long it has taken play to resume following each hiatus.
There have now been 15 delays due to rain in this Test alone, with the players being interrupted seven times on day three due to the weather in Brisbane.
But on Tuesday O’Keefe and the Fox Cricket team were left scratching their heads after a five-minute downpour led to a 25-minute delay before players were ready to take the field again.
‘The rain stopped about 10 minutes ago, and you could see when it started it would clear up quickly – it was just one cloud,’ commentator Isa Guha said.
Fox Sports commentator Kerry O’Keefe has lashed out at officials for the length of time it has taken to get players back on the field following rain delays
Adam Gilchrist (left, sat next to Travis Head, right) also hit out at the decision to suspend play on Tuesday due to bad light
‘I just wonder if the umpires in that situation could say to the players: “Just hang around because we can probably get back going straight away”.’
O’Keefe subsequently hit out at the lack of urgency from officials and players: ‘We’ve preached pro-activity with umpires for years… snail pace.
‘Players should be out there warming up, they should be ready to go. It’s frustrating for everyone.’
More bad weather is predicted overnight, with lightning and rain predicted by some meteorological organisations and is set to continue into tomorrow morning, with there being a 60 per cent chacne of precipitation coming .
It has brought up previous discussions around the timing of the Brisbane Test, with Aussie legend Shane Warne previously stating that perhaps the match should take place later on in the summer.
‘It just seems to always rain in the (SCG) Test match,’ Warne said back in 2022.
‘It’s such a beautiful venue, such a beautiful city. Imagine if… any opposition team came here to Sydney and had 10 days on the harbour loosening up, getting ready and then play the first Test in Sydney rather than the fourth Test always in the New Year.
‘Maybe it’s time for a change. I know Australia won’t want to lose that first Test match in Brisbane, but it hasn’t been that well attended the Brisbane Test match either. Whereas maybe Brisbane could be the New Year Test match and Sydney could be the first one.’
Pat Cummins enjoyed a fruitful day with the ball in hand, taking four wickets, but could not force India to bat again
Akash Deep arrived at the crease to hit 27 runs off 31 deliveries to help steady the ship for India
India had begun the day 51-4, which quickly changed to 74-5 after Pat Cummins removed Rohit Sharma.
Josh Hazlewood subsequently left the field after suffering a calf injury, which could now rule him out of the remainder of the series. And with Australia down a bowler, Mitchell Starc, Cummins, Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon were forced to pick up some extra slack.
Amid the rain delays, Lyon would go on to dismiss India’s top scorer KL Rahul for 84 before lunch.
Cummins subsequently took his third of the day, dismissing Nitsch Kumar Reddy. With India at 194-7, concerns started to mount over whether they could reach the follow-on figure.
The dismissals of Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja by Starc and Cummins compounded those woes even further, but Bumrah and Deep steadied the ship, amassing 37 runs between them to keep things alive for India, with the tourists trailing by 193 runs.
