Australia v India: Rohit Sharma battling to save Gabba Test and captaincy after Head and Smith hit centuries

Hosts reach 405-7 in rain-affected third Test after Bumrah picks up five wickets

Australia's Travis Head, left, and Steve Smith hit centuries on day two of the third Test against India in Brisbane. AP

Australia took total control of the third Test against India at the Gabba despite an opening day washout, with Travis Head smashing another century and Steve Smith returning to form with a ton on Sunday.

India's bowling revolved around Jasprit Bumrah once again, the pace ace picking up five wickets. But the rest of the attack looked nowhere near as capable of taking wickets as the Aussies raced to 405-7 at the end of an extended second day.

Head (152) and Smith (101) starred in a 241-run stand that broke India's spirit after a positive start in the morning session.

Only 13.2 overs were bowled on the first day due to persistent rain in Brisbane. On day two, India started strongly with three wickets in the first hour with Bumrah once again finding his radar.

But Head and Smith batted India out of the game before another superb spell from Bumrah (5-72) after tea with the second new ball.

Head, who hadn't scored a run in his previous three innings at the Gabba, looked in complete control.

While other batsmen played and missed on a challenging surface, Head smashed the Indian attack at will.

Seam bowler Akash Deep challenged the batsmen as much as Bumrah, drawing almost as many false shots. However, while Bumrah picked up five wickets, Akash Deep got none.

What also stood out was the listless captaincy, field placing and body language of India captain Rohit Sharma, who has been criticised for basic errors and lack of positive intent throughout the series. On Sunday, Australian commentator Simon Katich termed one particular passage of bowling and field placing to Head as “dumb cricket”.

Rohit has shown a tendency to use defensive field placings and even wrong bowling combinations, allowing the game to drift away. Under his captaincy, Head has hit match-winning centuries almost every time, with the team refusing to even explore a clear weakness against short-pitched bowling for a sustained period.

While India did bowl with a little more discipline to Head than they did in Adelaide, the left-handed batsman survived the initial test. He brought up his century off 115 balls and reached 150 off just 157, hitting 18 fours.

Smith, on the other hand, was extremely lucky to survive for as long as he did. The former captain played and missed several times, surviving many lbw shouts.

He played with greater control once he crossed 50 and the bowling lost its edge. Smith brought up his 33rd Test century and his first in 18 months.

“It was nice to get to three figures, it's been a little while,” Smith said.

“You need a bit of luck playing on these surfaces and I think I got a bit of luck early on. It's been pretty challenging, the new ball's been doing a fair bit on most of the wickets we've been playing on.”

Smith fell soon after reaching three figures, edging Bumrah to Sharma at first slip with the score on 316. The Indian pace spearhead had his fourth wicket when Mitchell Marsh was caught by Virat Kohli at second slip for five.

One run later Head finally departed, edging Bumrah to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant to leave Australia 327-6.

Alex Carey (45 not out) then took the score past 400 to put the Aussies back on top.

Rain is forecast over the next three days, which means India have virtually no chance of winning the match and can only realistically hope to avoid defeat.

If India lose the third Test, they will almost certainly be out of the race for the World Test Championship final. And with it, the team is likely to move on from Rohit the captain and batsman, with Bumrah and possibly Pant in line to take over as leaders of the Test format.