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Indian skipper Rohit Sharma scripted history at The Gabba, Brisbane without even coming out to bat in the third Test. Rohit won the toss and opted to bowl first. He became the first visiting captain since 2008 to chose to bowl first at the venue. New Zealand's Daniel Vettori did it in 2008 and the visiting team lost by 149 runs. Rohit is aiming to repeat a 39-year-old feat at The Gabba.
Visiting captains opting to bowl first at The Gabba and winning
The last captain to it was New Zealand's Jeremy Coney. The result of that match went in BlackCaps favour as well. Richard Hadlee took 9 wickets to bowl out Allan Border-led Australia for 179. In Reply, John Reid and Martin Crowe's century helped New Zealand post 553 and take a massive lead. In the third innings, Border and Greg Matthews scored centuries but could not save Australia for a defeat by an innings and 41 runs. The result of the Test that was played almost four decades ago may give Rohit some confidence.
So far, only two visiting teams have won the Test at The Gabba after opting to bowl first. The other instance is of 1984 when Clive Lloyd won the toss and opted to bowl first. Interestingly, in the second innings, two West Indies batters -- Richie Richardson and Lloyd -- scored centuries. West Indies won the Test by eight wickets as the quartet of Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Courtney Walsh haunted Australia batters.
Last time when Australia opted to bowl and won at The Gabba
Overall, there have been 11 instances of wins by a team after opting to field first at The Gabba. The most recent instance was when Pat Cummins opted to bowl first against South Africa in 2022. In their second innings, South Africa were bowled out for 99 as Australia won the Test by six wickets.
Australia have opted to field 10 times at The Gabba and won nine Tests. The only loss they suffered was in 1986 against England.
ALSO READ: IND vs AUS: Rohit Sharma wins toss, makes two big changes in the playing XI for the Gabba Test
First in 8 years
Rohit is also the first captain since South Africa's Faf du Plessis in 2016 to win the toss and bowl first in Australia. Vernon Philander's fifer helped South Africa bowl out Steve Smith-led Australia for 85 and then win the Test by an innings and 80 runs. In the second innings, Kyle Abbott bagged a six-wicket haul.
Ganguly opted to bowl first too
In 2003, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and opted to bowl first in Brisbane as well. He led from the front with a 144-run knock and help India take a lead. However, the Test ended in a draw.
