BRISBANE, Australia — Continuous rainfall throughout the five-day duration led to the cancellation of the third cricket test match between Australia and India, ending in a damp draw on Wednesday, approximately two hours before the match was originally scheduled to conclude.
In their second innings, Australia declared at 89 for 7, challenging India to chase down 275 runs within 54 overs before the close of play. However, action on the field lasted for under three overs before poor light intervened, which prompted an early tea break, leaving India with no runs on the board and needing 267 more for victory.
Following this brief interruption, rain resumed, halting play altogether.
Earlier on Wednesday, Travis Head, who earned the title of man of the match for his impressive 152 runs during Australia’s first innings, dismissed Indian tailender Akash Deep, concluding India’s first innings at 260 and granting Australia a lead of 185 runs.
In the aftermath of this test, veteran all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin made the announcement regarding his retirement from cricket.
With the five-match series now tied at 1-1, the Brisbane test was anticipated to be a critical match, but it ended up being less significant due to consistent rain delays. Consequently, Cricket Australia offered refunds for tickets to around 35,000 fans who attended the opening day when not enough overs were played.
Reflecting on the situation, Indian captain Rohit Sharma noted, “While the interruptions were unfortunate, heading to Melbourne at a 1-1 standing boosts our confidence as we look to perform well there.”
Jasprit Bumrah surpassed Indian cricket legend Kapil Dev’s record by taking the most test wickets in Australia by an Indian bowler when he claimed the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, who was dismissed for just 1 run on Wednesday. This achievement brought Bumrah’s total to 53 test wickets on Australian soil, moving ahead of Kapil’s tally of 51.
Bumrah, after contributing by preventing India from fulfilling the follow-on, came back strong with the ball, finishing with nine wickets across the Brisbane test and accumulating 21 wickets for the series at an impressive average of 10.9.
On the other hand, Australia may find themselves short a bowler for the remainder of the series, as Josh Hazlewood suffered calf soreness just prior to the fourth day’s play, managing only one over before leaving the field.
Hazlewood had missed the second test in Adelaide due to side pain, arriving late for play and appearing to be struggling during his bowling spell.
“Josh met all the requirements before being selected for the third test and was declared fit to play,” mentioned Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s high-performance director. “Regrettably, he sustained a new and unrelated calf injury during warm-ups on day four.”
Scott Boland, who took over for Hazlewood in Adelaide and claimed five wickets, is expected to rejoin the Australia team for the forthcoming test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, set to commence on December 26.
In this series, India secured victory in the first test by 295 runs at Perth, while Australia bounced back with a decisive 10-wicket win in the subsequent day-night test in Adelaide.