To no one’s great surprise, the third Test ended in a predictable stalemate, but not without the attendant drama that is such an integral part of Australia-India cricket. R Ashwin’s retirement from Test cricket was evidently the most dramatic development on Wednesday as the curtain came down on a career most glorious even as the series stayed level at 1-1 with the teams heading to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test starting next Thursday.

The forecast was for thunderstorms and they don’t usually get it wrong in this part of the world, but in whatever little play was possible, India’s seamers did make a strong statement with Australia looking to force the pace for no discernible reason. India’s first innings lasted only 13 minutes on the final morning before Akash Deep’s valiant effort was halted by Travis Head, who had him stumped. By posting 260, India kept Australia’s lead down to 185.