Rohit Sharma’s decision to send Australia into bat was bold, but there were not enough overs to make a fair judgment on whether it was the right or wrong decision.

Any visiting captain who sends Australia in to bat evokes memories of England skipper Nasser Hussain in 2002 when Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting carved out hundreds to propel the home side to 2-364 at stumps.

On Saturday, Australia’s opening pair got through two spells of bowling from Jasprit Bumrah, albeit either side of the first rain delay. India’s best bowler didn’t take a wicket in his six overs, conceded eight runs and beat Khawaja’s outside edge a number of times.

Khawaja’s couple of pull shots to the boundary off Mohammed Siraj (0-13 off four overs) were arguably the highlights of a dull day.

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There were two intriguing changes to India’s XI, with Ravindra Jadeja getting the nod over Ravichandran Ashwin, in a clear sign the tourists want to lengthen their batting order after their loss in Adelaide.

Meanwhile, pace bowler Harshit Rana was not selected, with Akash Deep (0-2 off 3.2 overs) selected for his first match of the series. Rohit is still listed to bat at No.6 after speculation he might have been moved back up the order to open.

As expected, Josh Hazlewood was included in Australia’s XI in place of Scott Boland.

“We try and make it [the selection] as late as possible without disturbing Scotty’s prep too much,” Hazlewood said on SEN before play. “We just saw how I woke up yesterday ... and everything was sweet.

“Everything’s feeling pretty good. It’s been a frustrating last few weeks … but good to be back bowling.”

Despite the truncated day, Khawaja made more runs than in any of his previous six visits to the crease. The last time he raised the bat for a half-century was against the West Indies in Brisbane in January.

Khawaja faced most of Bumrah’s six overs, while McSweeney managed one run from three balls against India’s strike weapon to bump his head-to-head average up from 3.7 to four.

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As debate swirls over the future of the Gabba as a stadium ahead of the 2032 Olympics, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli expressed his disappointment that Brisbane was being viewed as the fifth-best Test venue in the country.

“I’m frustrated this isn’t the first Test, let alone people talking about us not having a Test. That defies logic,” Crisafulli said on the ABC’s Grandstand. “We’re going to do something that makes Queenslanders proud.

“I’m mindful we are sitting in a venue that is reaching the end of its life and I don’t want to be in a state where we can’t have a claim to have a Test in every series.”