Day 1: Hurt by injuries and dropped catches, India somehow manage to stay afloat
Day 2: Of timing and intent – Rohit Sharma’s great gifts are also frustrating hurdles
Day 3: Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur and the joy of unexpected, hard-fought success
Day 3: Shardul Thakur’s cricket is driven by his competitiveness
12:39 pm: That’s stumps with play abandoned on day four. This epic series will come down to the final day at the Gabba... remember to set your alarm.
12:17 pm: Going by the Cricket Australia update, play needs to restart by 1300 hrs IST.
Ind 4/0 after 1.5 overs: The rain is coming down, the players are going off and the covers are coming on.
Ind 4/0 after 1 over: One wide half volley dished out by Starc and Rohit helps himself to a four through the cover. The chase is on.
Starting to drizzle again just as India’s openers begin the chase.
There is something in the wicket, the odd ball can do something but you can bat on it too. India will want to stay positive when they come out to bat.
Aus 294 all out after 75.5 overs: Siraj picks up his fifth wicket to finish with 5/73. Superb spell by him. Just ran in hard and did the job for the team. Australia lead by 327 runs. India need 328 to win. Hazlewood c Thakur b Siraj 9(11)
Aus 289/9 after 75 overs: Paine giving Cummins the opportunity to go for some runs but if it rains tomorrow, they might come to regret this period. Should they still be batting? Australia lead by 322 runs.
Aus 286/9 after 74 overs: Siraj with the slower ball that Cummins picked up and hit for six down the ground. Australia trying to make sure India don’t have enough time to actually chase this down. The lead is 319 runs.
Aus 274/9 after 71 overs: WICKET! Shardul gets his 4th wicket of the innings. Lyon walking back. Australia lead by 307 runs. Lyon c Agarwal b Thakur 13(10)
Aus 274/8 after 72 overs: The lead is up to 307. Lyon gets a six in the over. Australia might not have to declare.
Aus 266/8 after 71 overs: Shardul gets no-balled for intimidatory bowling. That is rather harsh. Starc and Australia have dished out enough short stuff. Even the commentators were surprised. And this was to Cummins, who can bat.
Aus 261/8 after 70 overs: The pitch is playing tricks. One ball from Siraj came back a long way. It will worry India’s batsmen as much as it will please Siraj. Australia lead by 294 runs.
Aus 254/8 after 69 overs: Everyone has an eye on the weather but there is still a lot of time left in the game. Australia’s lead edging towards 300 – lead is 287 runs now.
Aus 247/8 after 67.2 overs: WICKET! Siraj gets another one. Didn’t quite come on. Caught by Saini at mid-off. Siraj now has 4/42. Australia lead by 280 runs. Starc c Navdeep Saini b Siraj 1(4)
Aus 247/7 after 67 overs: Thakur starts the proceedings again. No rain but the light isn’t great. the floodlights are on though.
The covers have come off. Play will resume in around 10 minutes.
Aus 242/7 after 66.1 overs: Tea has been taken. It is raining. The covers are on. Umpires trying to save as much time as possible.
And it has started raining. The covers are on.
Aus 242/7 after 66 overs: Natarajan with a maiden over. All the action happening at the other end.
Aus 242/7 after 65 overs: WICKET! Shardul gets another one with a short ball. That’s two in the innings. Paine went for the hook, got the edge through to Pant. Point to note: steep bounce. Paine c Pant b Thakur 27(37)
Aus 239/6 after 64 overs: Wow. Washington’s overs have been expensive today. 18-1-80-1. Australia have milked him for runs. Australia lead by 273 runs.
Aus 231/6 after 63 overs: Australia lead by 264 runs. Steady surge of runs. One eye on the weather. One on Australia’s batsmen and one on the lead.
Aus 230/6 after 62 overs: Australia lead by 263 runs and they clearly are going to keep pushing it.
Aus 227/6 after 60.5 overs: WICKET! Another wicket for Thakur and another good catch by Rohit in the slips. Green walking back. A leg-cutter doing the trick. Green c Rohit b Thakur 37(90)
Aus 226/5 after 60 overs: The innings run-rate for Australia is 3.77. That is way faster than what they managed for most of the series. A different pitch but the hosts are pushing for a result here. Australia lead by 259 runs.
Aus 217/5 after 59 overs: Australia lead by 250 runs. It has become overcast at the Gabba again. The Sun has gone into hiding after a brief period.
Aus 213/5 after 58 overs: The lead is going up rapidly. Almost to a point where India will start getting worried about it, if they aren’t already. Australia lead by 249 runs.
Aus 206/5 after 57 overs: Rahane talking to Siraj, India need to control this now. Just surviving here is not going to be easy. Australia lead by 239 runs
For reference: The highest successful chase at the Gabba is 236.
Aus 202/5 after 56 overs: 15 overs, 53 runs, 1 wicket in the session so far. A four off the last ball. The one thing Australia have done is that they have moved the game along. The runs have kept coming. Rain threat aside, a lot of time left in the game. Australia lead by 235 runs. Time for a drinks break.
Aus 196/5 after 54.2 overs: WICKET! Siraj strikes with one that rears up to send Smith back. Took the glove before popping up to Rahane. India needed this but the pitch is starting to play tricks now. Smith c Rahane b Siraj 55(74)
Aus 196/4 after 54 overs: 11 runs off the Washington over. Smith and Green, both having been dropped once, trusting their luck more. Australia lead by 229 runs.
Aus 185/4 after 53 overs: DROPPED! Mohammed Siraj again, this time off his own bowling. Those are never easy on the follow through but that’s another C&B chance missed when Green has batted in this match. Green was on 14. Australia lead by 218 runs.
Siraj is back into the attack.
Aus 185/4 after 52 overs: Another Test fifty for Steve Smith. He has been superb. India will rue the dropped chance. 50 off 67 balls. Australia lead by 218 runs.
Aus 181/4 after 51 overs: Variation in bounce starting to become a factor. There is a certain spot that Natarajan is hitting and it is making the ball do strange things. Australia lead by 216 runs.
Aus 181/4 after 50 overs: DROPPED! Washington Sundar has Steve Smith playing a big shot and it creates a chance at long on. Mohammed Siraj doesn’t judge it too well and parries it over the head for four. The mandatory dropped catch. How costly will this prove to be?
Aus 173/4 after 48 overs: Seven runs off the Washington over. Smith continues to look okay in the middle. A four off the last ball. Australia lead by 206 runs
Smith is hurting or cramping? Was holding on to his hip at the end of the over. Between overs, he popped a few pills.
Aus 166/4 after 47 overs: Australia lead by 199 runs. Green and Smith have put on 43(98). India could use another wicket here.
Aus 160/4 after 46 overs: 7 runs from the Thakur over including a four off a short ball. Smith is striking it very well indeed. On the flip side, the pitch is looking pretty okay for batting. Australia lead by 194 runs.
Aus 154/4 after 45 overs: Steady stuff from India to start the session and that is a good thing. Allows them to attack and keep the match in the balance.
Aus 153/4 after 44 overs: India doing a good job of keeping Green quiet. The youngster has 4 off 37. Smith has 32 off 47.
Aus 152/4 after 43 overs: Smith is into the 30s. He is looking positive and that is a good sign for Australia. The hosts lead by 185 runs.
Aus 149/4 after 42 overs: Thakur starts the session off with a maiden over.
Teams coming back in the field for the post-lunch session. Are you all set for what promises to be another exciting of play?
Aus 149/4 after 41 overs: And that is lunch. An exciting session of play yet again. Australia started off the day very well. Then, India came back through Washington, Thakur and Siraj. Thunderstorms are expected later in the day but the sun is shining Brisbane at the moment and Australia lead by 182 runs.
In the session: 35 overs, 128 runs, 4 wickets, RR 3.66
Aus 137/4 after 39 overs: Natarajan into the attack. He struggled in his first spell today. But starts off with a maiden here. India lost a review in the over. Ball rapped Green on the pads and India took the review.
Aus 137/4 after 38 overs: Smith slashed at the first ball to send it for four over the slips. Saini operating around 128-128 clicks. Not quick but maintaining a decent line and length.
Aus 131/4 after 37 overs: One run from the Siraj over.
Aus 130/4 after 36 overs: Saini into the attack now. He was struggling to run while in the field after injuring his groin in the first innings. Admirable effort. Just another gritty footnote for India in this series.
Aus 130/4 after 35 overs: A maiden over.
Aus 130/4 after 34 overs: What those in the business of prediction, this Australia-India series must have been a tough one.
Aus 127/4 after 33 overs: Brief flurry of fours when Labuschagne was in the middle but things have settled down again. Australia lead by 160 runs.
Aus 123/4 after 31 overs: WICKET! Two wickets in the over for Siraj. Australia doing what they have done best in the series: collapsing. Wade caught down the legside. India are right back in this. Just when you think one side has control, the other side fights back. What a series! Wade c Pant b Siraj 0(3)
Aus 123/3 after 30.3 overs: WICKET! Siraj back into the attack and he strikes. Nice line and length. Seemed to bounce on the batsman too. Labuschagne had to play at that. Caught in the slips. He was looking dangerous. Big wicket for India. Labuschagne c Rohit b Siraj 25(22)
Aus 119/2 after 30 overs: Labuschagne (21 off 19) and Smith (7 off 5) are looking to counterattack. Both teams can’t afford to get too defensive. Eight runs from the over. Australia lead by 152 runs.
Aus 111/2 after 29 overs: Labuschagne with a wonderfully timed straight drive. Saini gave it chase but the ball just beat him to the boundary line. 11 runs from the Thakur over. Australia lead by 144 runs.
Aus 92/2 after 27 overs: Two batsmen, who are both averaging over 60 in Test cricket, are in the middle for Australia. Labuschagne and Smith are the big wickets.
Aus 91/2 after 25.5 overs: WICKET! Now Washington strikes. The Washington-Thakur partnership is doing it again! Warner walking back after being trapped LBW. The review didn’t help. Warner lbw b Washington Sundar 48(75)
Australia lead by 124 runs.
Aus 89/1 after 24.5 overs: WICKET! Thakur strikes with a bouncer. Surprised Harris who could only put his hands up in defense. Gloved it to the keeper. The breakthrough India needed. Time for a drinks break too. Marcus Harris c Pant b Thakur 38(82)
Aus 84/0 after 24 overs: Some quiet over. Just what the doctor ordered for India. Allows Rahane to organise his thoughts.
Aus 81/0 after 21 overs: Sundar continues to be steady. India need a wicket here and the some good quiet overs will help build the pressure.
Aus 81/0 after 21 overs: Good over but there was a four-ball too. Australia lead by 114 runs now. Warner 39 and Harris 37. This is a fine start for the hosts.
Aus 76/0 after 20 overs: One run from the Washington over. A crucial partnership for India again. They need to get the run-rate down. Australia scored far too quickly in the first six overs of the day.
Aus 75/0 after 19 overs: Thakur has made a good start. Is getting the ball to do something and seems to have found the right length.
Aus 72/0 after 18 overs: Seven runs from the Washington over. The runs continue to flow for the Aussies as the Sun starts to peek out. It had been overcast all morning.
Aus 65/0 after 15 overs: Probably a change of ends for Thakur. Just four runs in the last three over for Australia as India wrest back some control.
Washington Sundar into the attack now.
Aus 63/0 after 14 overs: Steady over by Siraj. One run from it.
Aus 62/0 after 14 overs: One run from the Thakur over. Steady start as India look for more control.
Australia’s scoring shots in the first six overs of today’s play: 4, 4, 4, 4, 2, 4 (nb), 4 (b), 4, 1. Thakur into the attack now. Natarajan gets a break.
Aus 61/0 after 13 overs: Rahane will want to keep an eye on the run-rate too. At the moment, Australia are scoring at 4.69 RPO which is far too quick. India’s bowlers pitching it up and Warner and Harris are hitting through the line. Australia lead by 94 runs.
Aus 53/0 after 12 overs: A bit loose from Natarajan. Two down the leg-side, one short and wide and a no-ball too. All punished. Australia lead by 86 runs.
Aus 39/0 after 11 overs: Another maiden over. That makes it two on the trot.
Aus 39/0 after 10 overs: A maiden over from Natarajan.
Aus 39/0 after 9 overs: Warner edges another one. This one flies just over Rohit Sharma in the slips. Just over. Siraj wasn’t too pleased with the effort though. India’s bowlers are finding the edges today morning. No luck yet.
Aus 33/0 after 8 overs: Natarajan from the other end. One genuine edge from Harris fell just short of the slips. Another drive down the ground. Runs have come for Australia in many ways.
Aus 25/0 after 7 overs: A few tentative pushes, a drive down the ground for four, a couple of deliveries that beat the bat. Day 4 has begun! The pitch looks okay but the cracks should come into play more today. Siraj kicked things off for India, Warner on strike.
We are all set for Day 4. Australia looking for quick runs that will allow them to declare quickly. But they will also have one eye on the weather with rain forecast on the last two days.
Day 3 review: A pair of unlikely third-day batting heroes Sunday gave India a fighting chance of securing the draw they need in the fourth Test against Australia to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur, in just his second Test, put on 123 runs for the seventh wicket – a record for India at the Gabba – taking their team from a precarious 186 for seven to 309 before Thakur was bowled by Pat Cummins for an entertaining 67.
All-rounder Sundar, on debut, batted well with the tail until he guided a Mitchell Starc short ball to Cameron Green in the gully to fall for 62.
By the time Mohammad Siraj was bowled by Josh Hazlewood, giving him figures of 5-57, India had reached 336, only 33 runs behind Australia’s first innings total of 369.
Australian openers Marcus Harris and David Warner survived six testing overs as Australia finished the third day on 21 without loss, a lead of 54 runs with all 10 second innings wickets intact.
Without Sundar and Thakur, India would have been in far greater trouble against an Australia side who must win the match to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with the four-match series locked at 1-1.
The two smashed the previous seventh-wicket record for India at the Gabba of 58, set by Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar in 1991.