Indian captain Rohit Sharma's decision to bowl first at The Gabba, Brisbane on December 14 raised a few eyebrows. He became the first visiting captain since 2016 to win the toss and bowl first in Australia. Rohit may have taken the decision given the overcast conditions and forecast of rain on Day 1 of the third Test. However, India's pace-bowling spearhead was not happy with the conditions he had to bowl in the first session as the ball wasn't swinging much.
Bumrah bowled from over the wicket of Australian opener Usman Khawaja. But soon after he changed the angle looking for enough swing to beat the batter and get an outside edge. He wanted to target the pads as well but at times it went down the leg side offering an easy opportunity for the batters to score.
In the fourth over, Indian players complained about the ball. The umpire obliged and checked it. The ball passed the gauge and was returned to Mohammed Siraj. In the fifth over, Bumrah was searching for swing but did not get the desired result. After the fifth ball, he was walking back to his mark and was heard saying on the stump mic, “Nahi ho raha swing, kahin bhi kar (There is no swing no matter where you bowl)".
In the sixth over, rain interrupted play. The players returned to the ground after half an hour. Rain interrupted play again in the 14th over. This time it was heavy and caused a long delay. Australia were 28 for no loss after 13.2 overs.
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to bowl first. He made two changes to the side. Akash Deep replaced Harshit Rana whereas Ravindra Jadeja came in for Ravichandran Ashwin. Deep bowled 3.2 overs before rain interrupted play. He bowled two maidens and conceded just two runs.
Bumrah bowled six overs including three maidens in his first spell. The vice-captain conceded eight runs with the new ball.
Rohit targets monumental feat
Rohit is hoping to repeat the 39-year-old feat as he opted to bowl first. The last time a visiting captain opted to bowl first and won the Test in Gabba was in 1985. It was New Zealand's Jeremy Coney who led his team to victory in Brisbane after opting to bowl first. The only other captain to do it and win is West Indies' Clive Lloyd in 1984.
