What to expect in Gabba: Heat, bounce, pace and intensity | Cricket News

“They are playing at pitch no.4. That’s the bounciest of the lot. The pitch where Mitchell Johnson terrorised England in 2013 with a nine-wicket haul. I expect it will seam a bit on the first day and quicken up with more pace and bounce on the second day.” That’s Kevin Mitchell Jr, an ex-curator of the Gabba for 33 years. “The job for your Indian batsmen is cut out. For that matter, the Aussies too. Both teams’ batsmen aren’t in flush form, are they? Travis Head saved the day at Adelaide, else it could have got tricky for Australia too.”
Not long ago, a Test against South Africa got done in two days here, but that track had a lot of grass. This one, though, has already seen a change in colour. The overly grassy-green of Wednesday evening is gone after a few cuts, and it looks firm. “I think it will be quick and bouncy, It will be an interesting toss, especially if it is cloudy and humid,” Mitchell Junior says.
Batsmen from both teams have certainly been working hard at nets for the past few days to try to get into some rhythm. Some have even been tweaking their technique. If it was Virat Kohli on Thursday, trying to get his moving-back-first-before-pressing-forward routine clicking, Steve Smith came out on the optional nets day on Friday to make a tweak. As he did on the previous day, he would incorporate a small move of opening-up as his initial movement before release. Not much, but enough to get him almost front-on facing the bowler. It should in theory help with his leg side whips, but how that clicks in against the balls in the outside-off corridor remains to be seen. But two stars in search of crucial runs in the big game have been sweating it out, not afraid to tweak their games a bit.
On Friday, many Indians set to play in the game didn’t turn up. Usually, the day before the game, that’s the norm. Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill did have a stint at the nets. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Gill turned up for the pre-game, raising eyebrows in the Australian media, who are used to seeing captains address the media a day before a Test. “Optional training day; I am here, so I am addressing!” Gill would say with a smile.
also_read title = “Also Read” article_title= “How a father and son shaped the Gabbatoir” id = “9722706” liveblog = “no” ] Sword on Rohit
Rohit certainly has to turn up at the Gabba with a knock of substance. He isn’t necessarily a captain who needs personal batting form to lead creatively, but it won’t hurt. Not just external noise, but considering India won the first game in his absence, he won’t mind some runs either. With the kind of lead-up he had before the tour, he didn’t stand much chance against the pink ball, with its little devilry. Another failure, and even his move to demote himself to no.4 that looked a selfless positive move will be painted as a submissive move of uncertainty. That’s how quickly perceptions can change at this level. Even his captaincy tactical decisions would begin to be questioned.
Gill would talk about an interesting facet that’s been tested in Australia. “The intensity is the key, mental intensity in these conditions.” He would cue up his first-innings dismissal at Adelaide. “I got affected what was happening at the other end.” Some wickets. “And I didn’t get much of a strike for a while, for four overs or so. And I missed a full ball (from Scott Boland).”

#GautamGambhir, Head Coach of #TeamIndia, analyzing the #Gabba pitch ahead of the crucial 3rd Test in the #BorderGavaskarTrophy 🧐#AUSvINDOnStar 3rd Test 👉 SAT, 14th DEC, 5:20 AM onwards on Star Sports! pic.twitter.com/cMt62aDrt1
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 13, 2024
He had faced just three balls in five overs prior to that, which had seen two Indian wickets of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli. That’s the kind of mental intensity he is referring to. But he certainly is taking heart not just from his batting in the series so far, but also from his past heroics at the Gabba. “I definitely felt nostalgic when I walked into the stadium.”
Rohit can also indulge in the past; he hit a 44 in the 2021 Test, but did make a hundred – a 124 against Australia in an ODI in 2016. His lack of runs can’t quite be put down to a lack of intensity or his approach in the middle. Unlike in the recent past, he didn’t take a cavalier approach; he just couldn’t crack the pink-ball movement. The Gabba with its bounce will give us, and him too perhaps, a clear picture of where he stands as a batsman. At the nets, he was seen doing little things: like running from the other end before he would take strike to get the energy up and running, just like Sunil Gavaskar had suggested he should. He was seen stretching and warming-up before his stint. He also faced a few short balls, trying to get his swivel-motion of the hips quicker. And sweated a lot on that forward stride.
“Batsmen who don’t naturally have a big stride tend to get it even shorter at the Gabba,” Mitchell Jr, observed. It wasn’t a reference to Rohit, but he was talking about the effect of the bounce on the pitch on a few batsmen. “The nature of the soil and weather here helps in that consency: Usually hot weather and sun-baked soil. Everything packs in really well. And the ball shoots up!” says Mitchell.
It’s difficult to make fair estimates from the proceedings in the nets, but it does seem that India will make a couple of changes: Washington Sundar probably in for R Ashwin, and Akash Deep for Harshit Rana. Whoever is picked, one thing is clear, as Gill had said. “High intensity needs to be maintained”. No one can roam around the garden at the Gabbatoir, no space for ‘garden mey ghoomney waale log’.

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