The players left the pitch at the Gabba for the last time at 2.33pm on Wednesday. A short time later, approaching rain hit the ground and referees didn’t wait long to draw the curtain on a rare five-day Test that felt much longer. The previous evening, KL Rahul had joked that he got more tired walking up and down to the dressing room than in the middle of it.

This means Ashwin will not be at the MCG, where he had such a big impact on India’s victory in the 2020-21 series, when the teams reunite on Boxing Day with a tantalizing 1-1 scoreline.

But how do you assess the tie? Offer that to India before you arrive and there’s a good chance they’ll bite your hand off for it, given Australia’s historic successes, particularly in Perth and Adelaide, and the fact they suffered a clean sweep against New Zealand . But after the first test? Maybe they would have hoped for more.

From an Australian perspective it feels worse than expected due to the same record at the venues, but it was a strong reaction to the brawl at Optus Stadium. Last week’s pink ball gave them a head start when it was desperately needed. Despite Brisbane’s strange-looking second innings, they never fell behind in this game after Head and Smith lifted them from 75 for 3.

India were not afraid to celebrate as they saved the follow-up tournament thanks to the fighting efforts of Bumrah and Akash Deep. Rohit Sharma had a wry smile on his face when asked if India’s joy at that moment was a reflection of deeper cracks in the side.

“I’ve been here enough to understand what mind games are, what chatter is, and all that,” he said. “From our personal point of view, we were behind the game. Of course, avoiding this setback is a small victory for us considering how the weather would develop and where the game would lead. Ultimately it ended in a draw.

“As Australia were ahead in the game, they failed to get the result. To celebrate, it was a small victory for us. It can’t hurt. We enjoy every single moment. We saw two guys who…” We fought for the team and we were very happy with that. That’s why we celebrated how these two guys fought at the end.

Cummins, who played his part in the mid-series fun, later laughed off the suggestion that India depended on the run of play more than Australia.

“I can’t say I’ve ever been afraid of momentum,” he said. “I don’t really care. I think we can take a lot from this week. Some great partnerships. Being sent on a wicket and scoring 450 and then being a bowler and managing to bowl India for 250. “The wicket was probably a bit better, I think we can take a lot from that.”

Heading into Melbourne, both sides will have to contend with similar problems around the top spot. For India, the form of Rohit and Virat Kohli remains an issue, Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to back up his 161 in Perth and Rishabh Pant was silenced, particularly by Cummins.

For Australia, openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney will be the focus. Marnus Labuschagne’s half-century in Adelaide eased some of the pressure on him but he once again came up short against Nitish Kumar Reddy in this Test. Bumrah is proving to be a strong handful for the top spot, although Cummins should read little from Australia’s second innings at the Gabba as he looks to set a target.

Mitchell Marsh’s winning streak is also still ongoing: he walked when he failed to score a single in Adelaide and has bowled six overs in two Tests despite Australia trailing for most of the game in Brisbane. Two excellent catches helped his team in this game but he has yet to give any indication that he can reach the heights of last season when he was named an Allan Border Medalist.

However, one area where Australia has greater depth than India is pace bowling. While Josh Hazlewood’s injury is a huge blow, it is a great luxury to know that Scott Boland is waiting in the wings to return to his home stadium where he is such a force. Meanwhile, Rohit didn’t seem confident that Mohammed Shami would be available at all during the series, although Akash, who is often compared to Shami, was much better than his 1-95 would suggest.

All in all, Australia remain favorites for the series, although this is largely based on the impressive form of Head, a revitalized Smith and the consistency of Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

And so the roadshow heads to the MCG, a surface that has been every fast bowler’s dream in recent seasons, with the prospect of a record opening day crowd. The weather forecast looks good for Boxing Day (even for Brisbane once the Test leaves the city) and there is a series still up for grabs. Merry cricket Christmas.