12.25 pm: Play has been called off in Brisbane for day 2. India will resume at 62/2 on Sunday. First session will start at 5 am IST.

11.53 am: Another update from BCCI... another inspection at 12.15 pm IST.

11.48 am: While we wait for the cricket to begin again, this is a good read. Should Ashwin take a closer look at his fitness regime as Zaheer Khan or Virat Kohli have in the past? Will it help him? India need him to play as much as possible especially away from home.

11.20 am: The covers are off. The umpires will inspect the pitch in 25 minutes (via @cricketcomau)

11.15 am: The rain has stopped at the Gabba.

10.59 am: In another Test, Joe Root has got to his 4th double century. It is his second against Sri Lanka.

10.52 am: While we wait for the game to resume (and it looks like that will take a while), an opportunity for you to get your FPL team in order.

Now we are set for a lengthier break in play as the covers are on at Gabba. They are expecting a hailstorm. A penny for Rohit Sharma’s thoughts.

India 62/2 after 26 overs: And that is tea. India had done well until Rohit gifted his wicket away. Pujara (8 off 49) and Rahane (2 off 19) in the middle.

First session: 28.2, 95 runs, 5 wickets

Second session: 26 overs, 62 runs, 2 wickets

India 61/2 after 25 overs: Finally, a run. Australia building pressure. Rahane and Pujara have spent a lot of time in the middle in this series. They can absorb the pressure but have to get a move on too.

Image credit: @7Cricket

India 60/2 after 24 overs: Four maidens in a row.

India 60/2 after 23 overs: With Rohit gone, progress will be slow and that is why it hurts. He did all the hard work and then threw it away.

India 60/2 after 21 overs: Rahane and Pujara in the middle. India need to be careful here. They need a partnership.

India 60/2 after 19.5 overs: WICKET! Lyon gets a big wicket for Australia. Rohit Sharma came down the wicket, didn’t get to the pitch of the ball and hit it nowhere. Easily caught by Starc. A premature end to the innings, Rohit was looking so good. But sadly, he has given it away. Rohit c Starc b Lyon 44(74)

India 55/1 after 19 overs: One superb four for Rohit in the over. A bit too full from Green and Rohit didn’t even try to hit it too hard. A check drive and it sped away to the boundary line down the ground. Labuschagne sprinted after it but it could not be caught in time.

India 51/1 after 18 overs: Steady over from Lyon. He will want to tie up one end but with Pujara and Rohit in the middle that won’t be easy.

India 50/1 after 17 overs: Everyone thought that this wicket would be difficult for the Indian batting line-up but so far Rohit Sharma has shown the way. He has been watchful and defended well but when the opportunity has presented itself, he has got the runs too. He now has 35 off 60 balls.

India 41/1 after 16 overs: Three runs off Lyon’s first over. Pujara looking to use his feet already. Rohit... watchful for now.

Lyon into the attack. This is his 100th Test match.

India 37/1 after 14 overs: A bit too wide from Green and Rohit threw the kitchen sink at it. It flew through the backward point / gully region. No one was catching that.

India 32/1 after 13 overs: Another Pujara edge off Cummins that falls short of the slips. He did it off the first ball he faced and now again. He’s still there.

A bit overcast at the Gabba now. Rain?

India 26/1 after 12 overs: Time for a drinks break. India have survived the first hour of play and lost just Gill while doing it. Rohit (15 off 44) and Pujara (3 off 14).

India 24/1 after 11 overs: This is the ‘watch the ball’ period. India need to survive the new ball and the first spells from the Aussie bowlers.

India 22/1 after 10 overs: Pujara off the mark after just 8 deliveries. A nice, quick single. Always feels good to get off the mark.

India 21/1 after 9 overs: A tense period. Edges and defensive shots are the order of the days. Cummins and Hazlewood giving nothing away. Rohit got an edged four through gully.

India 17/1 after 8 overs: Hazlewood starting to look dangerous as well now. A better rhythm to his bowling. Getting the odd ball to jag back. This is not going to be easy for Rohit (8 off 29) and Pujara (0).

India 11/1 after 6.2 overs: WICKET! Cummins into the attack and Cummins gets a wicket. He made Gill play away from the body and Steve Smith in the slips takes a fine catch. Shubman Gill c Smith b Cummins 7(15)

India 11/0 after 6 overs: Rohit doing the hard yards. He has 4 off 23 balls. Being very careful and showing he knows what is expected of an opener in Test cricket.

India 11/0 after 5 overs: Gill doing all the right things for now. A two and then a lovely four to start the over. The four was particularly impressive. On top of bounce and hit through the cover. Classy.

India 5/0 after 4 overs: Openers need to wait for the bad ball and Rohit, at least for now, showing he is prepared to do that. Hazlewood strayed onto the pads and Rohit picked up a two.

Australia’s first innings at the Gabba since 1988, when they last lost a match there:

Team Score Result Opposition Ground Start Date
Australia 369 - v India Brisbane 15 Jan 2021
Australia 429 won v Pakistan Brisbane 15 Dec 2016
Australia 556/4d won v New Zealand Brisbane 5 Nov 2015
Australia 295 won v England Brisbane 21 Nov 2013
Australia 480/8d won v West Indies Brisbane 26 Nov 2009
Australia 602/9d won v England Brisbane 23 Nov 2006
Australia 485 draw v England Brisbane 20 Nov 1998
Australia 463 won v Pakistan Brisbane 9 Nov 1995
Australia 426 won v England Brisbane 25 Nov 1994
Australia 293 draw v West Indies Brisbane 27 Nov 1992
Australia 167 lost v West Indies Brisbane 18 Nov 1988
Stats courtesy: ESPNCricinfo

India 2/0 after 3 overs: Another maiden over. This time from Starc. But there was one ball that hit a crack and comprehensively beats Rohit. Starc smiled and so did Rohit. Nothing anyone could do about it.

India 2/0 after 2 overs: Hazlewood into the attack and he immediately looks more dangerous on this wicket than Starc. Movement and bounce. Movement and bounce. Gill defended well though. A test in so many ways.

India 2/0 after 1 over: And we are through Starc’s first over without losing a wicket. One nice push from Rohit through the off-side for 2 runs. But Starc was looking for swing. There was a lot of bounce though.

India’s openers walking out to the middle. The Aussie players following them. Now, this should be the biggest Test for India’s top order on this tour.

Lunch, Day 2: Aus 369 all out.

T Natarajan: 3 wickets
Washington Sundar: 3 wickets
Shardul Thakur: 3 wickets
Mohammed Siraj: 1 wicket
Navdeep Saini lasted just 7.5 overs before going off due to a groin injury. All said and done, that’s a terrific effort by India’s untested bowling attack!

Aus 369 all out after 115.2 overs: Natarajan brought into the attack and he strikes. Straight ball and it was enough. Hazlewood is bowled. Hazlewood b T Natarajan 11(27)

And that is lunch too. 28.2 overs, 95 runs, 5 wickets in the session. They would have taken that at the start of the day.

Aus 369/9 after 115 overs: Maiden over by Sundar.

Aus 369/9 after 114 overs: Lovely cover drives from Hazlewood’s bat. Two fours. Australia’s tail piling on the agony but India’s plans have been poor. They just haven’t settled on one plan. We are into extra time now.

Aus 358/9 after 112 overs: Australia hanging in. Taking it to lunch.

Aus 356/9 after 110 overs: Australia continue to hold on. Given how everyone is expecting the pitch to break up later (there is a huge crack running through the middle), time is a factor too. India will bat last.

Aus 354/9 after 108.2 overs: WICKET! Sundar strikes. Lyon walking back. The batsman was looking to sweep everything so Sundar went full and straight. Lyon missed and the ball crashed into the leg stump. The stand with Starc was worth 39(40). Lyon b Washington Sundar 24(22)

Aus 354/8 after 108 overs: Siraj back into the attack and he unleashes a few good bouncers at Starc. Got one top edge. But nothing else.

Aus 352/8 after 107 overs: The runs are flowing and Australia go past 250. Remember, they have never lost at Gabba after scoring 350+ in the first innings. There is something there in the wicket for the bowlers so these runs are really hurting India. Starc has 15 off 16. Lyon has 23 off 18.

Aus 346/8 after 106 overs: Experienced attack or inexperienced attack, India’s problems against the tail continue. The stand between Starc and Lyon is worth 31 off just 25 balls.

Aus 338/8 after 105 overs: Lyon, playing his 100th Test, isn’t just going to hang around today either. Followed up the two fours against Thakur with a swept four against Sundar. Quick runs.

Aus 332/8 after 104 overs: Thakur went short, Lyon pulled it for four. Thakur went full, Lyon drove him down the ground for an even better four. Interesting battle.

Aus 323/8 after 103 overs: Starc ends the Sundar over with a big six. He isn’t in the mood to just hang around, he never is. With the tail for company, Starc is going to have some fun.

Aus 315/8 after 101.4 overs: WICKET! Cummins’ poor recent form with the bat continues. Thakur traps him LBW with a yorker, the review didn’t help. It would have crashed into the leg stump. Wow. India have turned this around in quicktime. Cummins lbw b Thakur 2(8)

Aus 313/7 after 100.5 overs: WICKET! As it so often happens in cricket, after one big partnership, one wicket usually follows another. Now, Green walking back. Sundar got one to go straight on, Green played for the turn. Bowled! The match has changed quickly. Green b Washington Sundar 47(107)

Aus 311/6 after 99.2 overs: WICKET! Thakur gets India the breakthrough. Pitched it up, Paine’s feet didn’t move and Rohit Sharma takes the regulation catch in the slips. The stand with Green was worth 98. Paine c Rohit b Thakur 50(104)

Aus 311/5 after 99 overs: Fifty for Paine, off 102 balls. A gritty knock. But the one that India would rue in the last over in an edge from Green that hit Pant’s thigh and lobbed up. Rahane, at a very deep first slip, was unable to get to it in time. It was in the air for a while.

Aus 307/5 after 98 overs: Thakur into the attack. A change in the manner India will attack. The ball will be pitched further up as Thakur looks for swing.

Aus 307/5 after 97 overs: Things seem to be settling down and that isn’t good for India. Rahane would have been looking to get a few early wickets and then pick it up from there. No such luck.

Aus 303/5 after 96 overs: Australia go past the psychological 300-run mark. When Australia score 300+ in the first innings at the Gabba, they have lost one game at the venue. When they score 350+, they have never lost.

Aus 299/5 after 95 overs: Siraj, the bowler, almost managed to run out Green, the batsman. Green took a couple of steps outside the crease and was slow to get back. Siraj collected the ball played back to him and looked like he wasn’t going to throw but then spotted that Green was out of his crease and had a go at the stumps. If he had hit, Green was gone. Just missed.

Aus 298/5 after 94 overs: The Paine-Green partnership is already worth 85 and India will want to break this quickly.

Aus 293/5 after 93 overs: One run from the Siraj over. There is bounce and movement for sure but Australia have looked to score too.

Aus 292/5 after 92 overs: Two overs on the trot. India will need to build some pressure and this will help.

Aus 292/5 after 91 overs: Maiden over from Siraj and one in which he always sent back Paine. The Australian captain was a little late on the ball and almost played on. The ball bounced over the stumps and he survived.

Aus 292/5 after 90 overs: Particularly impressive about Natarajan is how accurate he has been. For someone who has not played too much red-ball cricket, the control has been impressive.

Aus 290/5 after 89 overs: Back-to-back 8-run overs for Australia to start the day. A little wayward from Siraj too.

Aus 282/5 after 88 overs: Two lovely straight drive and a couple of plays and misses to start the day. Green moves on to 36, Paine is on 38.

Stat alert: When Australia score 300+ at the Gabba, they have lost one game at the venue. When they score 350+, they have never lost.

After the close of play on Day 1, Labuschagne had this to say about the pitch: “I’ve never seen the Gabba crack up like that on Day 1. And if this heat continues, it’s going to be interesting come Day 4-5, what the wicket is like.”

Aus 274/5: Come Day 2, Rahane and Co will hold on to the chances that come their way. The inexperienced attack did their best and with a little more effort, India might have found themselves in a much better position.

Day 1 review: An under-strength India fought back in the final session to leave the fourth Test against Australia evenly poised after the opening day at the Gabba in Brisbane on Friday.

Australia finished the first day on 274 for five, with Cameron Green on 28 and Tim Paine alongside him on 38 to put the home side marginally in front on a benign Gabba wicket.

With the four-match series locked at 1-1, Australia need to win the final Test to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

They looked certain to be in a much stronger position when they reached 200 for three shortly after tea, with Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade scoring freely.

But they lost Wade (45) to a rash attempted pull shot then Labuschagne for a superb 108 in the space of 13 runs to leave them at 213 for five, before Green and Paine steadied the innings against a tiring attack.

India’s efforts were especially admirable considering they were fielding two debutants in their bowling attack following injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Ashwin.

They also lost fast bowler Navdeep Saini to a groin injury midway through the second session.

Labuschagne said despite missing so many frontline bowlers, the Indian attack was still potent.

“When you are playing really good teams, it doesn’t matter who comes in – everyone in that line-up is very disciplined,” he said.

“They understand their role. They’re very strong bowlers.

“I was disappointed today not to make a really big hundred but like I said, the Indian bowling was very disciplined, very strategic.”