New Delhi: The opening day of the third Test between India and Australia was called off due to persistent rain showers at the Gabba in Brisbane. The action was cut short to 13.2 overs in two intervals but the play was disrupted twice with drizzle forcing the players out.
The crowd was expecting a spectacular action of Test cricket, but the unforeseen weather conditions didn’t permit the play to go in full swing.
Play has been stopped today due to rain.
Play will resume tomorrow and all following days at 09:50am with minimum 98 overs to be bowled.#AUSvIND
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 14, 2024
India won the toss and elected to field first with the visitors making a couple of changes to their team after the Adelaide humbling. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Akash Deep were included in the team in place of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana.
Australia, on other hand, brought back Josh Hazlewood for Scott Boland after the former recovered from the side strain issue in the only change made by the hosts.
Australian openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney were determined to play with solid defensive blocks. The good length deliveries were shown respect and left and risks were avoided. In fact, the Indian slip cordon didn’t had any opportunity for the catches with the batters applying shots with the soft touches.
After 5.3 overs of the play, the players were asked to walk off the pitch, though it was a drizzle. Within half-an-hour, the play was resumed. Only 47 balls were later bowled in the first session and just 25 minutes before the first session could fold up, the rain gods once again made its presence visible.
The match never resumed after this stage with Australia’s score reading 28 for no loss with Usman Khawaja unbeaten at 19 and McSweeney playing the second fiddle to him at four runs.
The opening day of the third Test between India and Australia was called off due to persistent rain showers at the Gabba in Brisbane. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
