With the series level at 1-1, India and Australia have come into the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Brisbane with all to play as they aim to take a decisive lead in the series after Australia's 10-wicket victory in the Adelaide Test on the back of India's historic 295-run win in Perth.

The first day of play proved to be a spoilsport as only 13.2 overs were bowled in the first session of play after India won the toss and chose to bowl first. The rest of the day was washed due to rain with the forecast for the rest of the match making for grim reading.

However, India already finds themselves facing an uphill task to win the Gabba Test and will need to defy history. Never before has India won a Test match against Australia after winning the toss and bowling first. This was the 12th instance of India winning the toss against Australia and choosing to field. In the past 11 instances, there have been five draws and six victories for Australia.

The last instance of India bowling first after winning the toss against Australia happened when Rohit Sharma chose to field in the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval. In a bilateral clash, this is the first time in 21 years after the 2003 Gabba Test under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy that India has won the toss against Australia but have not chosen to bat.

Venue	Year	Result
Eden Gardens, Kolkata	1956	Lost by 56 runs
Eden Gardens, Kolkata	1964	Draw
Gabba, Brisbane	1968	Lost by 39 runs
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	1968	Lost by 144 runs
Adelaide Cricket Ground, Adelaide	1981	Draw
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	1985	Draw
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney	1992	Draw
Adelaide Cricket Ground, Adelaide	1992	Lost by 38 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne	1999	Lost by 190 runs
Gabba, Brisbane	2003	Draw
Oval, London	2023	Lost by 209 runs
Gabba, Brisbane	2024	TBD

On the other hand, Australia won the toss and decided to bowl against India five times and won the match four times. The last instance of the same happening came in 2012 at the iconic WACA ground in Perth when the Michael Clark-led team thrashed India by an innings and 37 runs on their way to a 4-0 series victory. The only defeat came in 1981 when they lost at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by 59 runs.

Overall, India has won the toss and chosen to bowl first in 60 Test matches and won just 10 times with 21 defeats and 28 draws. The most recent win was against Bangladesh in Kanpur earlier this year. However, they have won outside India in this scenario since the 2009 Hamilton Test against New Zealand.

So far, India have won every toss in the series and decided to bat first in Perth and Adelaide.

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