BGT, Gabba Test, AUS vs IND: Continuous rain forces early stumps on day one in Brisbane

Play was called off early on day one of the 3rd BGT Test between Australia and India at the Gabba in Brisbane due to continuous rain. The action will resume on day two at the usual time (5:50 AM IST), with a minimum of 98 overs to be bowled, eight more than the usual quota.

India won the toss in Brisbane, asking Australia to bat first. Unlike how it panned out for the visitors in the first two Tests, they failed to get an early breakthrough. Aussie openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney looked settled out in the middle, with the veteran left-hander hitting a few fours.

His pull shot to seamer Mohammed Siraj for a boundary was perhaps the best.

Meanwhile, midway through the sixth over, the first rain interruption took place as the covers came in quickly. Though the dark clouds vanished soon after, the second spell abandoned the first day’s play, with Australia’s scorecard reading 28/0 in 13.2 overs.

For the hosts, they made just one change, bringing in now-fit seasoned campaigner Josh Hazlewood, who replaced Scott Boland; the Indian camp made two, dropping Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana, roping in Ravindra Jadeja and seamer Akash Deep as their replacements.

Besides, amid talks over Rohit Sharma’s batting position, the Indian captain looks likely to continue playing at number six, with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal slated to take on the new ball.

As Rohit missed the BGT opener in Perth for personal reasons, he linked up with the Test squad midway through that game, making himself available for the second Test in Adelaide. The veteran batter played the only warm-up match under the lights against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, getting out cheaply caught behind.

During the Day/Night Test in Adelaide, Rohit batted at number six after much deliberation, an experiment that failed miserably.

Rahul, rewarded for his Perth outing, opened in the second game and got out early in both innings, while Rohit looked out of his element throughout. Boland trapped him in the front of the wicket on three in the first innings, while Captain Pat Cummins clean bowled him off a Jaffa in the second on six.

However, a collective batting failure resulted in India conceding a 1-0 lead inside three days at the Adelaide Oval, with the Test series score line reading 1-1.

(With inputs from agencies