Rohit Sharma is copping backlash for his decision to bowl first in the third cricket Test at the Gabba, with Travis Head and Steve Smith putting India to the sword on Sunday and showing how good the pitch is for batting. Sharma was tricked by the green tinge on the pitch and overcast conditions on Saturday, sending Australia in to bat first in the hope the ball would be hooping around.

But the plan backfired when only 13 overs were bowled on day one due to rain. And it looked even more foolish when the skies cleared on Sunday and the pitch appeared a batter’s paradise.

Jasprit Bumrah continued his golden run with the early wickets of Usman Khawaja (21) and Nathan McSweeney (9), but Head and Smith showed how grateful they were to get first use of the pitch. Head plundered 152 off just 160 balls while Smith (101) overtook Steve Waugh with the 33rd century of his Test career.

Smith broke a long century drought stretching back to the Ashes in mid-2023, moving to outright second for most Test centuries by an Australian player (only behind Ricky Ponting with 41). But Head was the star of the show for the second match running, and made a complete mockery of Sharma’s decision to bowl first.

Cricket world stunned after India opt to bowl first at Gabba

Speaking on Fox Cricket, Aussie great and Queenslander Michael Kasprowicz said Sharma had been “sucked in”. He added: “It used to happen so often in Sheffield Shield cricket. You would see the green pitch and the conditions and bowl first.

“I used to reckon that Gabba could be the hardest venue in Australia to bowl first on because of the massive expectations. Bowlers try too hard and don’t hit the right lengths. It is easy to get it wrong and then you get to day two when the wicket hardens up it is so much better to bowl on. Captains see a bit of green and bowl first like (English captain) Nasser Hussain did. Often it just doesn’t work.”

Aussie legend Kerry O’Keeffe was gobsmacked that Sharma fell into the trap. “Unless it’s a ‘green mamba’ and there are worms strolling on a good length…you bat first if you win the toss at the Gabba,” he said. “The Australian batters’ highest averages are in the first innings of a Test match and their lowest averages are in the fourth innings.

“So you’ve invited them into their favoured position. If you face Australia you want them to bat second and fourth. They’ve effectively said ‘you bat first because you bat so well there’.”

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Outside of his decision at the toss, Sharma was also panned for his captaincy and field settings on Sunday as Australia raced to 7-405 at stumps. “They don’t settle on a tactic for long enough,” Michael Vaughan said on Fox Cricket.

“Are they trying to snick him off? Why don’t they try to bounce him out? Why don’t they go full and wide, pack the off side?”

O’Keeffe added: “I don’t think Rohit Sharma has had his best day as skipper. He will say the pitch was so good that we were just trying to control it with outfielders, but you had to pressure Australia and get them out.”

The only saving grace for India and Sharma might be the weather forecast. Rain is predicted for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and it appears increasingly unlikely there will be enough time to get a result. With that in mind, some thought Pat Cummins should have declared on Sunday evening and forced India into a tricky period before stumps.