India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This decision did not please former England skipper Michael Vaughan as he said that Australia and Pat Cummins would be more than happy to have lost the toss and asked to bat first.
Australia have had a tremendous record in Brisbane, however, the past few years have seen the fortress being breached twice– first by India in 2021 and then by the West Indies earlier this year.
However, Australia are yet to lose a Test in Brisbane after being asked to bat first since 1985.
“It was one of those decisions at the toss where I think Pat Cummins was absolutely delighted to have lost it,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.
“He didn’t have to make the call. Probably would have swayed on batting due to the history of this venue, but I think he was quite happy Rohit Sharma said we will have a bowl first,” he added.
Former Australia left-arm pacer Brendon Julian also shared the same sentiment as Vaughan, saying it was a good toss to lose for Cummins.
“Good one to lose,” Julian said.
“I think the lead up to this Test was a lot of rain and when the players came out for their practice sessions before they had a look at it, it was green. But out there this morning I didn’t think it was a bowl first pitch this morning,” he added.
Rain plays spoilsport in first session on Day 1
Rain played a dampener in the first session on Day 1. The Indian bowlers failed to exploit the juice on the wicket as Australian opening batters Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney saw off the new ball.
The first interruption came in the 6th over. However, proceedings started after a break of half an hour. The second interruption came in the 14th over as players from both sides made their way back to the pavilion in a hurry.
Mohammed Siraj was booed by the Gabba crowd as bad blood spilled over from Adelaide to Brisbane. For the Gabba Test, India made two changes to their playing XI as the visitors brought in Ravindra Jadeja and Akash Deep in place of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana.
Australia also made one change as the hosts brought back Josh Hazlewood in place of Scott Boland. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy currently stands level at 1-1.
