Ravindra Jadeja (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI: The opening day of the third India vs Australia Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was washed out after brief action due to rain in Brisbane on Saturday.
With just 13.2 overs left in the game, Australia reached 28 without loss, with Australian openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney surviving the Indian bowlers’ opening thrust under overcast skies.
While the India pacers failed to take advantage of the overcast conditions on Saturday, the venue has had almost nothing to offer the spinners in recent years.
India have gone into the game with Ravindra Jadeja as their sole spin option, while Australia have Nathan Lyon available at the other end.
With the threat of rain looming over the next four days during the game, the spinners are unlikely to have much of an impact and so the Gabba has traditionally not been kind to the gymnasts either. Especially when it comes to visiting spinners, the Gabba had very little to offer.
Since 2020, visiting spinners have bowled just 70.1 overs – 14 per innings – and have averaged 1.2 wickets.
With the exception of Washington Sundar, who is not playing in this match, no visiting spinner has bowled more than 15 overs in a Test at the venue.
In the last three Tests at the Gabba, the spinners have managed just six wickets, three of which were taken by Washington.
Even Australia’s spin star Lyon had a difficult time there.
Since 2020, Lyon has bowled 116 overs, managing just 11 wickets. Lyon bowled an average of 19.2 overs an innings at the Gabba and had just 1.8 per innings.
Lyon against visiting spinner at Gabba (since 2020)

Washington played one game in Brisbane in 2021 where he bowled 49 overs and ended up with four wickets, making him the best tour spinner in recent times at the venue.
In the first two games this time, India relied on Sundar and R Ashwin, but both were not used much by the skipper as both averaged 9 overs per innings and bowled over 35 overs in total.
Given the adverse conditions and a less-than-friendly venue, it will be interesting to see how effectively Rohit Sharma utilizes Ravindra Jadeja and gets the best out of him in the remaining four days of the third Test.