AUS vs IND 2024/25, Australia vs India 3rd Test, Day 2, Brisbane Match Report, 14 – 18 December 2024

On By Littum

Australia 28 for 0 (Khawaja 19*, McSweeney 4*) vs India

Just 13.2 overs were possible on a rain-hit first day in Brisbane, with India struggling unsuccessfully to elect to bowl first in the third Border-Gavaskar Test match.
Cloudy conditions and a grass pitch saw India field Australia after winning their third toss in a row and perhaps recent history has also informed their decision, with the team bowling first having won six of the last seven Tests in this place. However, it took a while for India’s quicks to find their lengths and the openers looked mostly untouchable for the first 5.3 overs before a drizzle sent the players off the field, with Usman Khawaja putting something away a touch too even or short while he got to 13 off 22 balls.
Play resumed after half an hour’s interruption and the bowlers started asking more questions, moved their lengths fuller and found more movement. Akash Deep, who came into the side in place of Harshit Rana, looked particularly impressive as first shift, swinging and nipping the ball into the right-hander Nathan McSweeney and causing the odd ball to climb awkwardly as well.

But just as the contest began to heat up, with India conceding just nine runs in 7.5 overs after the break, the rain returned, this time with greater intensity. The fast-draining Gabba outfield promised a quick resumption as and when the rain stopped, but the wait for that to happen dragged on and on, with both the lunch and tea breaks. The downpour let up around 3pm but returned soon after. The game was eventually called off at 4:13 p.m.

Apart from Akash Deep, India also brought Ravindra Jadeja into their side for his first appearance in the series, in place of R Ashwin. This change meant that they had played three different spinners in each of the first three Tests. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood returned after recovering from his side strain and displaced Scott Boland from the pace attack.