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Australia 28 for 0 (Khawaja 19*, McSweeney 4*) vs India
Only 13.2 overs were possible on a rain-hit first day in Brisbane, where India strove without success after choosing to bowl first in the third Border-Gavaskar Test match.
Overcast conditions and a grassy pitch prompted India to insert Australia after winning their third straight toss, and perhaps recent history informed their decision too, with the team bowling first having won six of the last seven Tests at this venue. It took a while for India’s quicks to find their lengths, however, and the openers looked mostly untroubled in the first 5.3 overs before a drizzle sent the players off the field, with Usman Khawaja putting away anything a touch too straight or short while getting to 13 off 22 balls.
Play resumed after a half-hour interruption, and the bowlers began to ask more questions, shifting their lengths fuller and finding more movement. Akash Deep, who came into the side in place of Harshit Rana, looked particularly impressive as first change, swinging and nipping the ball into the right-handed Nathan McSweeney and getting the odd ball to climb awkwardly too.
But just as the contest was beginning to heat up, with India conceding only 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, taking in both the lunch and tea breaks. The downpour relented at around 3 pm but returned soon after. Play was eventually called off at 4.13pm.
Apart from Akash Deep, India also brought Ravindra Jadeja into their side for his first appearance of the series, in place of R Ashwin. This change meant they had played three different spinners in each of the first three Tests. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood returned after recovering from his side strain, displacing Scott Boland from the pace attack.
