As the clouds clear over the Gabba after the third Test between Australia and India ended in a stalemate, both sides have reason to sift through the rain-soaked rubble in search of prevailing positives. Any hint of assurance will be gladly pocketed at this stage after the two sides clocked up a thumping victory apiece, as well as a corresponding defeat, while each having numerous frailties exposed across the opening three Tests.

The hosts can embrace their extended periods of control with both bat and ball, and the return to form of fading great Steve Smith ahead of the next contest in Melbourne. The tourists will be emboldened by bravely fighting off the prospect of following-on under dark skies on the penultimate day in Brisbane. An opportunity to revive any lingering doubts among Australia’s top order when Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance sparked yet another collapse the following day was an unexpected boost when a draw was already all but assured.

After being outplayed in Adelaide and across much of the frequently-interrupted first four days in Brisbane, India have somehow wrested back momentum heading towards the Boxing Day Test. That was at least until Australia’s long-time nemesis Ravichandran Ashwin dropped a bombshell at the end of play at the Gabba when announcing his retirement from international cricket.

The 38-year-old was omitted from the XI at the Gabba after claiming one wicket from 18 overs in the pink-ball second Test, as India’s revolving door of spinners kept turning to hand Ravindra Jadeja a first match of the series. Jadeja played a critical role in India’s late-innings rally with 77 runs but had earlier gone wicketless and hardly threatened across 23 overs as Australia amassed 445 after being sent in to bat.

Ashwin would have been a strong contender for a recall at the MCG, whether as the sole spinner or part of the all-too familiar one-two punch with Jadeja that has tormented Australia so many times in the past. The duo combined for eight wickets when India turned around a hefty first Test loss to level the series the last time these sides met in Melbourne in 2020. Ashwin has instead pulled up stumps mid-series with the seventh-most Test wickets (537) of all-time and the most Australian scalps (115) from any tweaker.

The off-spinner also has the equal-most player-of-the-series awards in Tests with 11, including a pair against his great rivals when India hosted Australia in 2013 and most recently in 2023. Little wonder captain Pat Cummins and spinner Nathan Lyon were quick to send Ashwin on his way with a signed Australia shirt at the Gabba.

Even with his powers diminished, Ashwin’s sudden departure opens up the cracks on a surprising shortcoming for India. Jadeja had limited impact with the ball in Brisbane and Washington Sundar claimed just a couple of wickets in Perth before being overlooked for the next two Tests. None of the India spin trio selected in the squad has grasped their opportunity in this evenly-matched Border-Gavaskar series, though Australia’s Lyon has also largely failed to impress with three wickets from 60 overs in the series.

The spinners that remain are likely to enjoy friendlier conditions in Melbourne and Sydney. But whether India continue with the veteran Jadeja or 25-year-old Sundar, or perhaps both, Ashwin’s retirement is another step in the side’s accelerating changing of the guard. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma join Jadeja as the only members of the India squad now into the second half of their 30s. Australia are yet to launch into their own looming period of regeneration with four players in the same age bracket set to be named in the XI in Melbourne if Scott Boland replaces the injured Josh Hazlewood as expected.

Whether Australia pay a heavy price for relying on their highly-credentialed though ageing stalwarts across five Tests in less than seven weeks remains to be seen. There is already cause for concern as injuries start to strike a creaking outfit, with Mitch Marsh’s mere two overs bowled in the third Test emphasising the effects of losing Hazlewood to a calf injury on day three.

Boland might be the ideal replacement for Hazlewood but the experienced pacer’s absence will become even starker if Kohli is able to add to his stalling tally of centuries after compiling just his second in five years in Perth. Kohli has been dismissed twice by Hazlewood in this series as the right-armer’s preferred line and testing length troubles the India great outside off-stump.

Kohli is far from the only batter to be struggling to score runs consistently in this series, and the 36-year-old does have an unbeaten ton to his name, as pace has so far reigned supreme. Smith’s first century in 18 months takes some of the pressure off the 35-year-old, and surely turns the dial up on teammate Usman Khawaja and India’s skipper Rohit. Runs from the once-prolific pairing on each side now feel like being a bonus on top of whatever Travis Head and KL Rahul, the outstanding batters in the series so far, can compile. But the potential for turning decks in Melbourne and Sydney, and the belated emergence of the spinner to make the most of them, could yet add the most critical twists and turns to this rollercoaster series.