Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep will come out to bat on Day 5 with India’s score reading 252/9, still trailing by 193 runs. Australia, a bowler down in the form of Josh Hazlewood, will look to wrap up the Indian innings pretty quickly on the final day of the Test to gain a significant lead.

Only two results seem likely at this stage—a win for Australia or a draw. Rain is predicted on Day 5 as well, but if the weather holds up, we can expect a roller-coaster of a game to unfold at the Gabba.

The real question is whether Pat Cummins and co will be adventurous enough to forfeit their second innings to force a result. Do the laws of the game allow for such a scenario?

Firstly, yes, the laws of the game allow the captain to make such a call. Law 15.2 of the MCC Rule Book deals with the forfeiture of an innings and states, “A captain may forfeit either of his/her side’s innings at any time before the commencement of that innings. A forfeited innings shall be considered to be a completed innings.”

For example, if Australia dismisses Akash Deep or Jasprit Bumrah on the first ball of Day 5, Australia’s lead would be 193. Then, if Pat Cummins decides to forfeit the innings, India would have to bat again, and their target would just be 194.

If this does happen, then India can walk away with an unlikely victory, as chasing 194 should be within the grasp of the visitors.

Realistically, Cummins and the Australian management would not do such a thing as a target of 194 would be well within the vicinity of the visitors and would happily go after the target. So forfeiture of an innings, as an option for Australia, can be safely ruled out.

How can Australia move the game forward and put India under pressure?

98 overs can be bowled on the final day, weather permitting. Australia will look to take the final wicket as soon as possible when they take the field on Day 5. The hosts would then hope to add some quick runs possible to take the game forward and put pressure on the visitors.

India’s top order has been under pressure since the start of the series, and Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal do not have enough runs.

But even with an under-fire batting lineup, you would assume that Australia will at least need a little more than two sessions to bundle out the visitors, who won the Gabba Test last time around during the 2020-21 tour.

Cummins and Co would ideally want to give India a target of at least 270-300 and ask them to bat out 60 overs. However, this does bring India into the game, as scoring at a rate of 5 per over is not unimaginable these days.

However, with the likes of Kohli, Rohit, Gill and Jaiswal feeling the heat, it is unlikely that India would look to go after the win and the visitors would happily take a draw, considering the happiness that we saw on the faces of the Indian think tank when Akash Deep hit a four over gully to avoid the follow-on.

An Indian batting collapse cannot also be ruled out because, for the past few months, the top order has not given any confidence, and we have often seen collapses. Who can forget the shambolic performance against New Zealand in Mumbai when the hosts were just set a target of 147 runs. India got bowled out for 121, losing the contest by 25 runs.

Hence, the onus lies with Australia, as they are in a position to move the game ahead. However, with Josh Hazlewood ruled out for the rest of the match, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc are in for a heavy workload.

Considering the next Test at Melbourne starts in a week’s time, Australia have everything to play for. If India manages to walk away with a draw, the series would be on level terms at 1-1 heading into the Boxing Day Test.