There's a little pre-match ceremony that starts with Matthew Hayden and Zaheer Khan bringing out the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
DYK: The last Indian captain to opt to field first in a Test in Australia before Rohit Sharma was Sourav Ganguly at the same venue in 2003. Overall the ninth such instance for India with four previous Tests ending in defeats and as many in draws.The last time a visiting side to win after opting to field first in Australia was South Africa in Hobart in 2016 while the last such instance in Brisbane came in 1985 by New Zealand.
Parth: What are the chances of rain throughout the 5 days? 'Chances of a thunderstorm or two over the course of the game, but we should get plenty of cricket'
Pitch report: "The overhead conditions are challenging, it's been wet going into the game. Cloudy conditions, there'll be plenty of assistance for the pacers, movement off the pitch, plenty of carry and batting shouldn't be easy. You need to respect the bowlers in the first two hours and then there are runs on this surface. Going further, spin will play a role going into the 4th and 5th days, it's a bowl first pitch," reckons Matthew Hayden and Sunil Gavaskar, in their pitch report.
Rishabh Pant: It's amazing, when I entered I got a positive feeling. It gives a positive attitude and confidence in a series where things are level, it makes you want to do well. Playing the situation has been a learning for me, bailing out the team from a hard situation. Sometimes it's hard, most of the time I need to keep telling myself to think positive. There are easy ways to do it but that's where I put my foot down and keep doing the same thing that has given me a lot of success. Generally I don't practice such shots, it's a game-plan according to the bowlers because it's not always easy to just defend the ball. My mindset tells me it's safer, I always play percentage cricket. Definitely it was one of the most challenging parts but I made sure with all the doctors that I could be fully fit, I always wanted to keep. The ball travels much more, that is something to look for. It does a bit off the wicket but that is part and parcel of the game.
Ritik Bhardwaj: As much as we all know Harshit struggled in Adelaide, I still want the management to back him. He reminds me of a young Kohli—same passion and aggression. This pitch will suit him well too. 'He has been left out in favour of Akashdeep'
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Pat Cummins: We would've bowled first too. Been a fantastic series so far. Really happy with last week, just about everyone got into the series, been a good lead-up. Preperations have been pretty good. Early finish in Adelaide allowed us to come up here early and get settled. Just one change, Scott Boland is out for Hazlewood.
India have won the toss and have opted to field
Rohit Sharma: We're going to bowl first.
India have won the toss and have opted to field
As for India, batting collapses are becoming far too frequent for anybody’s liking. The opening pair looked relatively solid in both games and they’re unlikely to be disturbed. The concerns for India, however, lie quite clearly in the middle order - particularly in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In moving down the order, Rohit Sharma became the latest addition to an already large list of batters that’ve manned India’s middle order in the past year and he’ll be hoping that he can turn his fortunes around. While Virat Kohli did get a hundred at Perth, he’s largely been a shadow of his former self. Runs have started to evade the two veterans and they’ll know the impact their contributions or lack thereof will have on the rest of the team. India’s potency with the ball cannot be faulted. The greatest challenge for the bowling group will be to keep the intensity up as this long series goes on. Bumrah was by far and away the standout for India in both games but his brief injury scare in the previous game will mean that they’ll be wary of his workload.
It’s hard to argue that either side has completely got their act together so far. With a new opener in McSweeney and the idiosyncratic Labuschagne-Smith duo in dreadful form, the fragility of Australia’s batting order was evident at Perth. While Labuschange turned it around with a gritty 64 and McSweeney grinded it out at the top to get a 30-odd in his belt, neither really made a strong enough statement all while Smith continued to look muddled. While their fast-bowling trio were fantastic, Nathan Lyon, who had a poor game in Perth, bowled just one over at Adelaide and with whispers of injury never too far away from Mitch Marsh, Australia will be wary of their bowling resources - particularly with Hazlewood returning from injury as well.
09:20 Local Time, 23:20 GMT, 04:50 IST: Once Australian cricket’s unbreachable stronghold, three years on from India’s epochal besiegement, The Gabba is now an embattled ruin that the home side is desperate to reclaim. Just a few years ago, an Australian team arriving at The Gabba would have found comfort and confidence but now, having lost 2 of the last 4 Tests here, they must be careful to not let the recent past haunt them and invoke a sense of trepidation. On the other hand, India’s historic triumph here and its aftermath are well recorded and it’ll invariably stir up some zest in the visitor's camp. With the series poised at 1-1, contrasting psyches induced by the venue and the occasion could have a decisive impact. Australia were far from their best in Perth and India so at Adelaide. Both sides will know the importance of bringing their A game to the fore in this one because the team that claims a win here will hold the upper hand for the rest of the series.
Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Preview by Bharat Sundaresan
You will not hear the term Gabbtoir being used over the next few days. You will not hear anyone mention 'fortress' over the next few days. You will not hear anyone bring up a 'streak' for Australia over the next five days.
In fact, the next five days will be about a vital Test match that will be played at the Gabba, where the venue will indeed be only incidental to what could be the decisive match in the series. A win here will give a massive upper hand to the victors, as it'll force the other to win the last two Tests to stay the distance. But unlike what was the case for a large part of three decades, the focus will remain on what's happening in the present rather than any talk of what's happened before here at this iconic ground.
Not that Pat Cummins seemed too perturbed by returning to a venue where Australia have gone from not having lost in 33 years to now having lose twice in the last 3 years. To the extent that he insisted on every venue simply being a venue without it necessarily needing to have a big picture narrative.
The moment a streak is ended, the venue would mean more to those who orchestrated its conclusion. That's simply the logical conclusion, and while Cummins brushed off too much focus on the history of Tests at the Gabba, for Shubman Gill, it's a venue that has great memories and no wonder he spoke about reminiscing about his feats here from 2021 as he walked past every bit of the Gabba.
It was his first big break as an international player, on the biggest stage, with the world watching, as he smashed 91 fabulous runs in a famous run-chase on one of Indian cricket's glorious days.
That said, Australia will be looking to start a new streak and avoid losing two Tests in the same year in their erstwhile indomitable fortress. While for India, there's a rare opportunity to create their own legacy at the Gabba.
When: Australia v India, 3rd Test, December 14-17, 2024, 10:20 hrs Local Time, 11:20 AEST, 05:50 hrs IST
Where: The Gabba, Brisbane
What to expect: It was an unusually cool welcome to Brisbane a couple of days ago, but while the rain has stayed away since, leading to two steamy days in Queensland, the showers have returned by the night before the Test. And the forecast over the next few days isn't the most promising, even if the locals are convinced that good weather will prevail. The conditions overhead on Saturday morning will have a big bearing on what the captain winning the toss decides, while the surface below will come up for a lot of discussion as is the norm in Brisbane. The ultra-green nature of the pitch has given way to a slightly less intimidating on the eve of the Test.
Team News
Australia
From reports about Josh Hazlewood being whisked away in a van to him allegedly having secret net sessions, the main focus around Australia's preparation concerned the fitness of their world-class fast bowler. Before Cummins revealed that his fellow paceman had indeed ticked all boxes to come back into the playing XI at the expense of the unlucky Scott Boland.
Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India
Rohit Sharma's absence from the optional practice session caused a bit of a stir amongst those not used to Indian cricket. But it was clearly just a case of him not wanting an additional hit in the nets unlike Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal. Rohit did face the new ball for a bit but is unlikely to ask for a promotion to the top of the order after only one Test. That should mean the top 6 says the same with intrigue around the spinner's slot. R Ashwin did nothing wrong not to keep his place in the side but Washington Sundar had done little wrong to lose his place in the side after Perth. Meanwhile, it looks certain that there will be a change in the fast bowling department with Harshit Rana set to miss out with the impressive Akash Deep the likeliest choice to come in.
Australia
India
