India's bowlers frustrated as rain blights first day of third Test at The Gabba

India's bowlers were left frustrated and wicketless as rain wiped out most of the opening day's play in the third Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.

Australia were 28 for no loss when play was abandoned, with Usman Khawaja unbeaten on 19 and Nathan McSweeney four not out after facing only 13.2 overs at a rain-sodden Gabba.

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first but his hope of early wickets proved forlorn, rain halting play in the sixth over for about 30 minutes and dashing his pace bowlers' hopes of finding their rhythm.

The rain returned to bring an early lunch and persisted until play was abandoned late in the afternoon, short-changing a crowd of 30,145.

The Gabba pitch had a green tinge on what had been a steamy, overcast morning, promising a stiff examination for Australia's top order, but the ball ultimately did little off the spongy pitch.

Barring a probing, opening burst by Jasprit Bumrah, who repeatedly beat Khawaja's bat, the Indian pacers were culpable of bowling too short.

Khawaja capitalised, smashing Mohammed Siraj to the fence with a couple of sweetly struck pull shots but the weather denied a healthy crowd more action.

With the five-Test series poised at 1-1, India made two changes to the side that lost by 10 wickets in the day-night test in Adelaide – Ravindra Jadeja replacing spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Akash Deep coming in for struggling paceman Harshit Rana.

Australia made only one change, with quick Josh Hazlewood replacing Scott Boland after recovering from a side injury.

Rohit, whose poor form with the bat has heaped pressure on his captaincy, will continue to bat at number six, with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal retained as the opening combination.

"There's a lot of grass and it looks a little soft as well so we want to try and make the best use of the conditions and try and see what we can do with the ball up front," Rohit had said after winning the toss, adding that the mood in the Indian dressing room was "absolutely buzzing".

"The guys are looking forward to the Test match. It's been always nice to come here and play some really good cricket and, yeah, when you talk about how everyone's feeling, they want to come out here and showcase themselves."

As it was, India will have to wait until day two to show their skills and may need early wickets to force a third consecutive result in the series.

Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10

ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons

Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page

Hawks

Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar

Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish

Falcons

Coach: Najeeb Amar

Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh

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Thor: Ragnarok

Dir: Taika Waititi

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson

Four stars

Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books

Where to buy art books in the UAE

There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.

In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show.

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