The Gabba

Update as of Day 5: Game is drawn now thanks to yet another rain delay that left little opportunity for the Aussies to close out the match. Yes, they might have finally bowled India all out for 260 before they fell off so quickly when they’ve batted the 2nd time & declared right on the spot after the Aussies had enough; but then the rain came to say it’s too late. Hence, the series remains tied at 1-1 apiece Test with two more left to play for going into Thursday next week for the annual Boxing Day Test showdown at the MCG in Melbourne.

What does the Aussies have to do to keep themselves focused on the right track & not let India take way the series trophy that they haven’t had for a long time? 

I know Josh Hazlewood has been the glue of that “Fast Bowling Cartel” cohort over the past decade alongside Mitchell Starc & Pat Cummins but better still, should’ve kept Scott Boland and hold Hazlewood back at the next right time like the New Year’s Sydney Test instead of rushing back to like now. Unfortunately, that didn’t go well when he suffered a calf strain while warming up first thing yesterday as he won’t be back for a while – don’t know when but not for the rest of this series.

With the batting, not bad considering how good we were other than the sugar rushed Day 5 spell they had to put in ahead of the declaration. Although Travis Head wasn’t feeling good earlier today due to a tight quad issue on his thigh, let’s hope it won’t be too serious since he has been the saviour to our batting card. But not much of a chance now for Nathan McSweeney to nail down his spot as Test Opener at least for now unless he goes back to Shield level with South Australia & scores consistently big over the next 12 months if he continues to get sent back for peanuts. 

There’s a few others waiting in-line to make their first steps with the Baggy Green like the 19-year-old sensation Sam Konstas from NSW & St George (Hurstville) in Sydney Premier Cricket – we will find this out towards the end of 2024 for sure before it’s stay or go time for McSweeney who does in fact hail from Queensland. 

For now, still long way to with still lots to play for as anything can happen in this Border-Gavaskar Trophy. And shoutout to Ravi Ashwin by the way on his decorated International career following his retirement post-game as he won’t be taking any further part from now, even though there’s still a bit of play left in this series. It won’t be the same without him from someone who has been India’s primary spinner for a long time as we wish him the best of luck.

Off the back of a successful Day 2 spell from the bat by the Aussies including Alex Carey’s stunning 70-run smash as their primary keeper (and also last man out prior to the change of innings), they weren’t bad yesterday on the field & the red kookaburra ball with early wickets when India had the chance to reply at the crease – despite elements of yesterday’s play being held up by that continuous Brisbane rainy weather at The Gabba. 

They walked into Day 4 earlier today knowing the Aussies still had a job to do which they did for the most part but not up to their full potential unfortunately, even though they’re only had one wicket to try and force India to follow on before it was too late. Not even the sad injury news by Josh Hazlewood during the warm-up session delivered a crushing blow and he won’t be back for quite a while now due to his calf strain that he pulled up there. 

Instead, we saw some amazing moments by the Men In Blue like KL Rahul’s 82, Ravi Jadeja’s 77 when he paused a bit to celebrate with the sword like he always do every time he reaches 50, and the very lower-order partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep – whom both of them scored really quickly to get past these tired bowlers over at No.‘s 10 and 11. 

The good is though that the Aussies can finish this little job for yet another try first thing tomorrow morning at Day 5. But then the race is on over the next final 6-7 hours in order to bat again for a bit if they can pile up the runs quick smart and then declare right on the spot to try and win the unlikeliest of chances of going 2-1 up in this five-test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG (Melbourne) next week. 

But right now amid a series of rain delays over the last few days, looks like we will see out a draw for this one – unless Australia plays it smart as said above (an outside chance) or India bowls them out quickly once again before looking to bat big & bring it home (extremely unlikely).

Better still, this is the contest and standard we love watching from both sides when it comes to the long-running Test Cricket format at the end of the day.

We thought the Aussies were doomed right from the start this morning like it was so far in this five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series when our Top 3 batters have already been kicked out that early when we didn’t see much of Day 1 yesterday due to heavy rain. Well, fair enough to India who always keep on winning tosses; although they decided to go things so differently by bowling/fielding first rather than the bat. But hey, so we’re grateful for Travis Head who saved our day once again with another 100 off the back of his hometown heroics when he tamed the pink ball last weekend (2nd Test) at Adelaide Oval. 

Then he was joined by Steve Smith not long later having not made a big knock in a long while & he’s done just that to silence the critics who thought he is done at Test level but not just yet. Now that is courageous stuff from the Aussies as they’re currently on 405-7 with keeper Alex Carey (geez he’s been scoring oh so quick!!) currently on 45 alongside fast bowler Mitchell Starc at the tail end on seven & sure he can add the runs a bit like before.

Whatever happens towards the end of their first batting shift, let’s hope they can bowl India as early and quickly as they can in the hope of setting up a 2-1 series lead ahead of the Boxing Day test at the MCG in Melbourne come December 26.

Yes, like to give a shoutout to Jasprit Bumrah also over in the Indian dressing room with his five-wicket haul. But still, it’s been a turbulent day on the field with the seamers taking up the heavy work despite their good start. Don’t know what went wrong there when India were so good in the first test a few weeks ago at Perth and now they seem to have lost it. Not even some  selection changes have helped either as they better be ready to score at least 300-400 tomorrow once the change of innings have been made for Day 3 of 5.

For now, there’s a bit more cricket other than Tests with the T20 Big Bash League actually starting right now to kick off the new six-week season – perfect time to go out once the long school holidays are in during the summer. The opening game will be five-time champions Perth Scorchers who just welcomed the visiting Melbourne Stars side at Optus Stadium.