For the third Test in this series, Australia’s bowlers were badly held up by India’s tail, the last three wickets pickpocketing as many as 167 runs in 56 overs together. It is the clearest evidence yet that Glenn McGrath and, in particular, Shane Warne are being missed.

Adam Gilchrist, who overtook Mark Boucher with his 414th victim when Anil Kumble was last out, set a record for wicketkeeping Test dismissals and hinted that he might soon be following Warne and McGrath into retirement.

While saying he might go “any time within the next 12 months”, he smiled that another Ashes series was still a possibility. Sources close to him, however, think that he will retire before the tour to England next year. Despite his record, his keeping has been of variable quality this series, with several dropped catches, including one sitter on the first day here.

Kumble, with his fifth Test fifty, kept Australia in the field until after tea, something they cannot have envisaged after removing Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar in the first hour. Home frustration took its roots in a record India eighth-wicket partnership on this ground – 107 in 35 overs – and was fanned on a hot day by a last-wicket stand of 58.

While Kumble made his highest Test score against Australia, driving especially well in his 87 from 260 minutes, Harbhajan Singh contributed his second 63 of the series. Untroubled by Brad Hogg’s ineffectual wrist spin, and enjoying the lack of movement in the air or off the pitch, the pair did not look like being parted until Harbhajan top-edged a sweep.

Left with 90 minutes to negotiate, Australia saw off the new ball, which swung nothing like as much as in Perth. There was some bounce for India’s spinners, however, and with cracks already appearing in a dry pitch, some uneven bounce could be a factor later in the match.

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