AUS vs IND, 3rd Test: Rain spoils final flourish as Gabba Test ends in a draw
The HinduA Wednesday of pouring rain, crumbling wickets and runs, both blitzkrieg and tentative, added some pulsating drama to a contest that finally ended in a draw. The third Test’s fifth and final day wound to an early close with damp weather forcing a quick covering of the pitch here at the Gabba. READ | Ashwin announces retirement from international cricket In the morning, a gloomy one with clouds billowing around, India resumed its first innings at the overnight 252 for nine. Just as the decks were cleared for Australia’s second innings, match officials and ground authorities instructed the players and the sparse audience to step back as thunderstorms were expected. In The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy wrote: “Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, ploughing it up like gunfire.” The wet lines at Brisbane, may not have matched the fictional ones in Kerala, which Roy referred to, but this was a steady accompaniment, not an interlude, never a cameo, but an insistent brooding presence all through the clash.