One of the highlights of Day 2 of the third Test between India and Australia was the ‘bail-switching’ moment between India pacer Mohammed Siraj and Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne. In an act of superstition, Siraj walked over to Labuschagne’s stumps and switched the position of the bails. As Siraj turned back, Labuschagne himself switched the bails back to the original position. It didn’t work out for him, as he got dismissed moments later off the bowling of Nitish Reddy. Legendary Australia batter Matthew Hayden slammed Labuschagne for getting distracted.

Labuschagne fell for just 12 runs off 55 balls, shortly after the bail-switching incident. A thick edge saw him caught at slip by Virat Kohli.

“He saw 55 deliveries, and had no go forward whatsoever. Even that little exchange, if it was me at the crease and a bowler does that. I am not caring less. I’m not even looking at the bowler. I’m not acknowledging what he’s doing one bit. He’s nowhere near my space. In fact, I probably would have told him to get out of my space before he even got to the bails,” said Hayden on Star Sports at the end of Day 2’s play.

Labuschagne’s dismissal left Australia at 75/3 in tricky conditions, but arguably was a blessing in disguise. He was replaced at the crease by Travis Head, whose counter-attacking innings put Australia in a dominant position by the end of Day 2.

Head put up a partnership of 241 runs with Steve Smith, and scored yet another ton against India. Head has now scored over 1,200 runs in international cricket against India since 2023.

It was Head’s second consecutive century against India, having played a scintillating 140 at Adelaide as well.

Steve Smith also found his form again, scoring a resilient century, before Jasprit Bumrah completed a five-wicket haul with the second new ball.

India captain Rohit Sharma‘s decision to bowl after winning the toss in the third Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane. Rohit’s decision was centred around the overcast conditions prevailing at Brisbane, an area that has seen an unforeseen amount of rainfall in recent days. Rohit’s decision was slammed, in particular, by former England captain Michael Vaughan and former Australia batter Matthew Hayden. Vaughan went as far as to saying that opposition captain Pat Cummins would’ve been delighted with the outcome despite losing the toss.

“I think Pat Cummins was absolutely delighted to have lost it (the toss),” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.

“He didn’t have to make the call. Probably would have swayed on batting due to the history of this venue, but I think he was quite happy Rohit Sharma said we will have a bowl first,” Vaughan added.

Rohit Sharma explained at the toss that India were looking to get the upper hand by bowling first given the overcast conditions at play. However, India could not strike in the opening 13 overs of Day 1, before rain eventually stopped play.

Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden explained that batting would’ve been the smarter choice, as the pitch has been “over-prepared” due to the fear and intensity of recent rainfall in the area.

“I felt like it was over-prepared. There were almost 12 inches of rain in the past two weeks. And so we’ve got this showery pattern and it’s been that way for a month and a bit. The groundsman would have been thinking, ‘we’ve got to get our preparation in early’, and that’s why I thought that it was going to be good batting conditions in the first two days, with the view that it will break up, and turn,” Hayden added.

When rain had washed out the entire first day of the first Test between India and New Zealand at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in October, many had criticised Rohit’s decision to bat amid overcast conditions. Therefore, that Test may also have influenced his decision to bowl at The Gabba.

With rain affecting play on Day 1, Rohit’s decision at the toss could yet prove to be a masterstroke.

India captain Rohit Sharma‘s decision to bowl after winning the toss in the third Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane. Rohit’s decision was centred around the overcast conditions prevailing at Brisbane, an area that has seen an unforeseen amount of rainfall in recent days. Rohit’s decision was slammed, in particular, by former England captain Michael Vaughan and former Australia batter Matthew Hayden. Vaughan went as far as to saying that opposition captain Pat Cummins would’ve been delighted with the outcome despite losing the toss.

“I think Pat Cummins was absolutely delighted to have lost it (the toss),” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.

“He didn’t have to make the call. Probably would have swayed on batting due to the history of this venue, but I think he was quite happy Rohit Sharma said we will have a bowl first,” Vaughan added.

Rohit Sharma explained at the toss that India were looking to get the upper hand by bowling first given the overcast conditions at play. However, India could not strike in the opening 13 overs of Day 1, before rain eventually stopped play.

Former Australia batter Matthew Hayden explained that batting would’ve been the smarter choice, as the pitch has been “over-prepared” due to the fear and intensity of recent rainfall in the area.

“I felt like it was over-prepared. There were almost 12 inches of rain in the past two weeks. And so we’ve got this showery pattern and it’s been that way for a month and a bit. The groundsman would have been thinking, ‘we’ve got to get our preparation in early’, and that’s why I thought that it was going to be good batting conditions in the first two days, with the view that it will break up, and turn,” Hayden added.

When rain had washed out the entire first day of the first Test between India and New Zealand at Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in October, many had criticised Rohit’s decision to bat amid overcast conditions. Therefore, that Test may also have influenced his decision to bowl at The Gabba.

With rain affecting play on Day 1, Rohit’s decision at the toss could yet prove to be a masterstroke.

Legendary Australian cricket team batter Matthew Hayden made a hilarious gaffe on live air when he said that he wants Rahul Dravid instead of KL Rahul while talking about India’s team selection for the third Test match. Hayden was analysing India’s loss in the pink-ball Test and his fumble left Gavaskar in splits. The comment came after Gavaskar said that Rohit should not bat at No. 6 and return to opening the batting for India as he is already suffering from a lot of confidence due to his lack of form.

“I think he should come back to opening for the next Test because he likes the ball to come onto the bat. This innings, one can understand, because he hadn’t played for a while, and Rahul and Jaiswal had a 200-run partnership in the previous game. But Rahul can come down the order and face the second new ball. I’m being optimistic that India will bat so well in the next game that Rahul will take care of the second new ball,” he said.

Gavaskar wants Rohit to open, Hayden wants… Dravid back in the XI?? #AUSvIND | @StarSportsIndia pic.twitter.com/9nkbUFFv8X

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 10, 2024

Hayden was not on the same page as Gavaskar and we went to say that India should not make a hasty change to the playing XI. He also backed the “technically-sound” Rahul to continue as opener but ended up saying “Rahul Dravid” in place of “KL Rahul”.

 “I’ll be slightly more stubborn. I will not be changing at this stage. I know you would like a better outcome inside the top three. But from what I saw in Perth, technically, Rahul Dravid is right there. He just needs to do it for a longer,” Hayden explained.

As soon as Hayden finished his analysis, Gavaskar taunted the Australia legend as he said –  “I would love it if it was Rahul Dravid, as you said, but it is KL Rahul.”

Hayden was left in splits as he said that Dravid’s centuries at the Adelaide Oval “still haunts him”.

“Sorry, KL Rahul. My apologies. I was thinking of when he dominated here in Adelaide and got us smashed in 2003/04 series. That’s a nightmare I’m stull living,” he said.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh and veteran Australia batter Matthew Hayden pointed out that the Rohit Sharma-led side’s lack of building ‘big partnerships’ has resulted in their 10-wicket defeat in the second Test at Adelaide Oval. Indian batters faltered against Mitchell Starc and captain Pat Cummins as the duo shared 15 wickets between them to level the five-Test series 1-1. In the first Test of the series in Perth, Yashasvi Jaiswal (161) and Virat Kohli (100 not out) struck centuries in the second innings while KL Rahul played a gritty knock of 77 to guide India to a 295-run emphatic win in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma.

However, the momentum shifted in Australia’s favour in the second Test with Indian batters failing to tackle the attack from Starc and Cummins as they bundled out the visitors for 180 & 175 at Adelaide Oval.

“One area where India would like to improve is the partnership. We need to have big partnerships We didn’t get a good partnership in Adelaide because of which we did not have enough runs on the board. If we have 300-350 on the board then our bowlers have the capability to bowl them out,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports.

Hayden also flagged India’s batting performance in the pink-ball Test and called for a better show in Brisbane.

“Team India just did not bat well enough, there’s no doubt. Even though this was a difficult track to bat on, they should not have been bowled out in under a day and a half. So that needs to be rectified for the Brisbane Test match,” Hayden said.

Meanwhile, the former Australian batter extended praise for India’s bowling performance led by speedster Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj despite Travis Head’s scintillating 140-run knock that set the tone of the match for the hosts.

“Bowling I thought, on average was pretty good. When you thought of the freakish innings that Travis Head played, 140 off 141 deliveries that was just something else. Sometimes, batsmen have their way,” Heyden said.

The third Test between India and Australia will be played in Brisbane from December 14.