Australia and India’s showdown delayed by Gabba deluge, but Rohit Sharma may have dodged a bullet

For a brief while it was almost impossible to identify a patch of grass on the Gabba outfield.

The rain fell with such a sustained ferocity that the entire joint was submerged in water, save for the big white tarp that desperately attempted to protect a cricket wicket.

It’s never a good sign when the ground staff have to park their carts and tractors on the corners of the covers to keep them from blowing away, but as the worst of the storm came through you wondered if that would even be enough.

At a ground famous for its ability to withstand the most extreme weather, this was uncharted territory.

We’ve all seen the clips of Dean Jones running helmets out to groundskeepers being peppered by hail, or the thick layer of white that blanketed the turf in the closing stages of the 2013/14 Ashes Test here, but flash flooding like this is so rare as to be awe-inspiring.

Not exactly great conditions for cricket though.

And what a great shame that is, because tens of thousands had turned up on a humid but mostly dry morning hoping for a potentially decisive act in an increasingly dramatic Test series.

They all came well aware that some rain was likely, and that play may well be regularly interrupted, but not even the bleakest forecast predicted a downpour of this extent.

India winning the toss and sending Australia in was another act in service of the narrative, pitting the Aussies’ still susceptible top order against Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj on what was expected to be a bit of a firecracker pitch.

It is probably silly to make too strong a judgement on the basis of 13.2 overs of play, but in retrospect the weather may have been a saving grace for India.

The pitch was by far the most docile we’ve seen in the first session of a Brisbane Test for some time, and even with the heavy overhead conditions the ball wasn’t swinging a whole lot.

Bumrah still bowled some beauties and the runs were hardly flowing through the early overs, but for the most part Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney batted with relative comfort.

Khawaja came out with a clear and noticeable intent, sweating on anything just back of a length to pull and whipping off his pads with a flourish rather than a flick. It all only added up to 19 not out from 47 balls, but in the spirit of over-analysing things, it was a promising start for the veteran opener.

Even before the rain hit, this stand between Khawaja and McSweeney was the best between openers in a first innings so far this series. When the toss fell in Rohit Sharma’s favour his decision to bowl was inspired by expectations of a swinging, seaming ball — expectations that didn’t come to fruition.

So as the players sat in their respective change rooms, playing cards or whatever it is they do these days, perhaps it would have been the Indians feeling the most relief.

The only Gabba clip more replayed than the Dean Jones one is that of Nasser Hussain winning the toss in 2002, sending Australia in to bat and being made to watch Matthew Hayden tear the English attack asunder for an entire day.

That memory, and the fear of “pulling a Nasser” at the Gabba overrules any statistical evidence that suggests bowling first here is a prudent choice, and so as those 13 overs ticked by with little threat to the batter, Rohit would have been feeling the nerves.

Now we get a fresh start. The forecast for day two is far less ominous, but there’s every chance the thorough drenching the Gabba just received may help spice the pitch up just a little.

Khawaja and McSweeney will have to open the batting all over again. Bumrah will be rested and will surely have recalibrated to get a few of those sloppy ones down the leg side out of his system.

India has recalled Akash Deep for this Test and the early glimpses of his bowling were very encouraging. With some bounce and carry, he looks a good fit for the Gabba pitch — though what sort of Gabba pitch we will get after all this rain is anyone’s guess.

Hours after the worst of it had set in there was still a healthy spattering of diehards in the stands. They built pyramids out of promotional chicken buckets, sang along to Country Roads like it was August and Charlie Cameron was doing his thing, all the while generally ignoring the state of the rain radar.

Their resilience spoke to both the Gabba’s famous drainage and the thirst for more cricket in this series, which is edging its way ever closer to a turning point.

There was hope it might come on Saturday, but South-East Queensland’s glorious tropical volatility intervened. Luckily we all get to try again on Sunday, hopefully while safely back on dry land.

The biggest Australia-India moments

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