Usman Khawaja batted in 13.2 overs before play on the first day was interrupted by rain. (Getty Images: Albert Perez)
For a short while it was almost impossible to find a patch of grass outside the Gabba.
- Scorecard: View all live scores and statistics
- Summary: Australia and India lost at the Gabba as heavy rain washed away much of the first day of the third Test match
- Five breaking news: Siraj was booed before the rain
The rain was coming down so hard that the entire field was submerged in water, save for a huge white tarp that desperately tried to protect the cricket wicket.
It’s never a good sign when ground crews have to park their carts and tractors in tent corners to keep them from blowing away, but when the worst of the storms hit, you start to wonder if it’s enough.
This region is known for its resistance to extreme weather, but this was uncharted territory.
The Gabba was almost completely covered in water at lunchtime. (ABC Sport: Jon Healy)
We’ve all seen the footage of Dean Jones, helmeted, running to the aid of a groundsman battered by hail, or the thick blanket of snow covering the pitch during the final stages of the 2013/14 Ashes Test, but flash floods like this are so rare that they inspire awe.
But conditions were not good for cricket.
It was a shame because tens of thousands of people had turned out on a damp but largely dry morning hoping for a decisive victory in this increasingly tight Test series.
They were all well aware that it might rain and that play might be interrupted frequently, but even the most pessimistic weather forecasts had not predicted the level of downpours that would occur.
India winning the toss and handing Australia the win was another act of narrative service, pitting Australia’s still vulnerable top players against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj in what was expected to be a tight contest.
It might be foolish to judge too strongly based on just 13.2 innings, but in hindsight, the weather may have been a life saver for the Indian team.
This was by far the softest pitch we’ve seen in the first round of the Brisbane Test so far, and even with a lot of fly balls overhead, the ball didn’t swing too much.
Bumrah still bowled some nice balls and barely scored in the early overs, but for the most part, Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney batted with relative ease.
Usman Khawaja flicks the ball off the pads on his first day at the Gabba. (Getty Images: Chris Hyde)
Khawaja came out with obvious intent, swinging his pads and swishing his bat rather than tapping it. His total was just 19 not out from 47 balls, but in the spirit of overanalysis, it was a promising start for the experienced opener.
Even before the rain, this duel between Khawaja and McSweeney was the best between openers in the first innings of this series. When the toss went in Rohit Sharma’s favour, he decided to bowl as he was expecting a swinging, tight-seam ball – but that expectation was not fulfilled.
VOTE NOW: What are the biggest moments between Australia and India?
The photo shows stylized images of Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Sophie Molineux and Dean Jones.
This summer, ABC Sport will be looking for the most memorable cricket moments between Australia and India, as voted for by readers. Vote now in our online poll.
So perhaps the Indians will be most relaxed as the players sit in their respective dressing rooms, playing cards or doing whatever they do these days.
The only Gabba clip that has been played more times than Dean Jones’s was when Nasser Hussain won the toss and sent Australia to bat in 2002, while the latter were forced to watch Matthew Hayden demolish the England attack throughout the day.
That memory, and the fear of “ran Nasser” at the Gabba overwhelmed any statistical evidence that bowling first here was a wise choice, so Rohit would have been nervous when those 13 balls went by with little threat to the batsmen.
Now we can start all over again. The weather forecast for the next day was far less bad, but the Gabba was thoroughly soaked, which would have made the pitch more interesting.
Khawaja and McSweeney will have to restart the batting. Bumrah will be rested and will surely readjust to shake off some of the leg-side slips.
Akash Deep’s debut in the series has received positive reviews. (Getty Images: Matt Roberts)
India recalled Akash Deep for this Test and he bowled encouragingly. With some bounce and delivery, he looks a perfect fit at the Gabba – though, what kind of Gabba pitch we’ll get after all this rain is anyone’s guess.
Hours after the worst of it, there were still quite a few die-hard fans in the stands, building pyramids out of promotional chicken buckets and singing along to “Country Roads” as if it were August and Charlie Cameron was doing his thing, while generally ignoring the state of the rain radar.
Their tenacity spoke both to the Gabba’s famous draining ability and to the desire for more cricket in a series that was creeping towards a turning point.
We had hoped for good weather on Saturday, but a tropical storm in southeast Queensland interfered with that. Fortunately we will all be able to try again on Sunday, when we will hopefully be back safely on land.
The biggest Australia-India moments
Throughout the summer we’ll be looking back at some of the best stories and sharing our own favourite moments in Australian and Indian cricket history.
Join us as we continue the discussion in our summer live blogs and broadcasts before our readers’ top 10 is revealed ahead of the fifth Test at the SCG on January 3.
Select five options to ensure your vote is counted.