Australia were in firm control at the stumps on Day 3 of the ongoing third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, however, the hosts would have liked the game to have advanced a little more given only a couple of days are remaining and the better part of 2.5 innings are still left. Only 33.1 overs of play could be possible as rain interrupted the play at least seven times from the beginning of the day to the irk of the players, teams and spectators alike.
India lost as many as four wickets in the 17 overs of batting they got amid the innumerable rain-breaks as none of them apart from KL Rahul to some extent, look confident against Australian bowlers in tricky conditions with a lot of rain around and assistance for the pacers. Rahul and skipper Rohit Sharma got through to the end of the day but the forecast for the next couple of days isn't great either, which is good in a way for India to play for a draw and not for the hosts, who were itching to get on to the field and were the last ones to leave.
India trail by 394 runs as Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins all had a piece of the pie. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant almost got out to identical dismissals poking while Virat Kohli chased another wide delivery and Shubman Gill was caught by a Mitchell Marsh blinder at gully while trying to play a booming cover drive but got the outside edge.
Rahul has looked very solid as he has been throughout the series but will need to dig in deep and will require support from the other end as well. Skipper Rohit Sharma will be under a considerable pressure, a good knock here won't do any harm.
The day started with a strange Australian batting show. Australia took 16.1 overs to score 40 runs as the approach was perplexing given the forecast. Having posted 445, Australia wouldn't want the game to end in a washout draw and hence, them not declaring at the start of the day was bizarre especially since they didn't even push the scoring rate.
Now, Australia are left with praying for clearer weather to be able to get the remaining 16 Indian wickets, however, the forecast especially for the fourth day is pretty gloomy. On the other hand, India aren't bothered by rain. Going into the Boxing Day Test with series 1-1 is not a bad result for the visitors but if the play does start, they will need to ensure they don't give Australia those 16 wickets.
