Relentless thunderstorms allowed just 13.2 overs of play on the opening day in Brisbane. The play will start half an hour earlier on day 2, but there is more rain forecasted.
Near the end of the first day, though, the main interest revolved around whether they will be able to get in 10 balls more — the rule is if there are 15 overs of play, then Cricket Australia won’t have to refund the ticket prices to the crowd.
In the end, 30,145 people won. Many filed out to nearby pubs to have more drinks, some in Indian turbans — there was a stall not far from the stadium entrance that was not only selling them but also helping them fix on their heads.
Apart from the toss, the interest in the game was about the inclusion of Ravindra Jadeja. A buzz went up in the broadcaster’s room first when someone spotted him bowl in the pitch adjacent to the main track before the toss. ‘Is he playing? So neither Washington nor Ashwin, then?’
Soon, Ashwin came and rolled his arm alongside Jadeja. Sundar didn’t and the talk was now about who among Jadeja and Ashwin would play. In the end, the man who didn’t bowl or bat much in the nets in the preceding days was chosen in the playing XI.
With Jadeja’s inclusion, India have played three different spinners in each game. Jadeja was presumably kept out of the first two matches because of the presence of two attacking left-handers Travis Head and Alex Carey. He did train a lot before those two games, and just when he eased up a touch on that front in Brisbane, he was selected. There was talk that this pitch could aid spin on the last day, if not the fourth afternoon if rains stayed away.
Just before the toss, another cry went up this time from one of the radio booths – all media boxes are lined up in one inexorably long corridor on level 3 of the stadium. This time someone had noticed an Indian support staff running to Rohit Sharma, whispering something in his ears, taking the team sheet from his hand and scribbling something.
Little later, when a picture of that sheet was circulated in the media, it became apparent that the scribble was crossing out a name. It was in the substitutes section. Abhimanyu Easwaran was listed as the 12th man but his name was crossed out and Devdutt Padikkal’s name was handwritten just above.
The official broadcasters also had Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border get together for a chat in the corridor, with Border making a 2-1 prediction in favour of Australia. (Express Photo by Sriram Veera)
Once the rains lashed in, suspending play, the day wore out ever so slowly, in the stands and inside the media ring. In Australia, perhaps even more than in India, several former cricketers are in the media field.
Multiple radio stations carry either live commentary or frequent updates, and multiple TV channels do the same. Tired of speaking non-stop on nothingness on the field, former players milled around the corridor, sipping endless cups of coffee or chatting away in the corridors.
There was Matthew Hayden, hobbling away after an injury to his left calf he picked up while batting in some friendly game on Friday. An almost fanatical surfer, when asked if this meant the end of surfing, he looked alarmed. “No mate, never. I will be back riding the waves. It’s cricket I should stay away from!’
Adam Gilchrist, looking dapper in his suit, indulged in friendly chats, gave bytes to a few in the Indian press, and finally when play was called off, got into a T-shirt and shorts.
Right at the end of this corridor, near the dining spaces, there is a small enclosure where a lady was furiously ironing out all the blazers, shirts, and pants for the broadcasters. There is also storage space, earmarked by networks, where the former players-turned-commentators hang their suits and go home in casuals like Gilchrist and David Warner did.
The official broadcasters also had Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border get together for a chat in the corridor, with Border making a 2-1 prediction in favour of Australia.
The rest kept floating around from Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming, Ian Healy, Isa Guha, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, and Callum Ferguson and the space here isn’t enough to rattle out the names.
Lehmann kept chugging coffee, Lee kept checking if his hair was neatly in its place, McGrath was giving a tour of the media boxes to a family, Fleming was sighing after yet another run down to the ground for some in-camera chat, Brad Haddin, who was known for his cussedness behind the stumps, looking not only dapper but pretty genial.
Allan Border, who has publicly talked about his Parkinson’s disease, a neurological condition, has progressively looked better on this tour – from Perth to Brisbane, walking, talking, laughing. That was great to see.
There wasn’t much cricket to see, and unfortunately, the forecast for the third day onwards isn’t great either.
Why should you buy our Subscription?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be misled and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package
