Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were left to rue rash shots to throw away their wickets as showers swept through bringing play to a standstill at the MCG.
Australia was 2-114 midway through the second session when the umpires deemed the rain in Melbourne too heavy to continue, but not before Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith were put through a rigorous 45-minute examination in dim light.
Smith (2 off 26) particularly struggled as Shaheen Afridi delivered an economical five-over spell after lunch, first in dark conditions and then with the added assistance of the floodlights after 2pm.
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The dismissals of Warner and Khawaja helped Pakistan save face after captain Shan Masood elected to bowl at the toss on Tuesday morning.
Inconsistent bowling in the first hour led to 12 byes, none of which keeper Mohammad Rizwan had any chance of stopping, as the Australian openers reached 0-90 before Warner fell to a wild swing at a wide delivery by Salman Ali Agha on the stroke of lunch.
The 37-year-old had already been given a chance on 2 when Abdullah Shafique dropped a sitter at first slip after Warner edged an Afridi delivery into the cordon at the end of the third over.
Former Australian star Michael Hussey said Warner would deeply regret his decision to play “a loose shot” only six balls before making it to the break unbeaten alongside Usman Khawaja.
“He’ll be absolutely kicking himself,” Hussey said on Fox Cricket.
“That is a massive bonus for Pakistan right on the stroke of lunch.”
A strong MCG crowd of 61,228 was in their seats when rain struck, only just shading the 64,276 who attended the first day of last year’s Boxing Day Test against South Africa.
The attendance would have likely exceeded that number had the wet weather not hit, with MCC chief executive Stuart Fox saying last week he had hoped to see 70,000 on the first day.
During his innings, Warner overtook Steve Waugh to move to second on the list of all-time run-scorers across all formats for Australia, moving past 18,500 runs to trail only Ricky Ponting (27,368).
Labuschagne and Smith were at the crease when rain forced a halt to play with the score 2-114.
Moments before, however, an agitated Marnus Labuschagne gestured at the umpires about the light. He was then asked about conditions in the drinks break and responded “It’s dark.”
“Let’s just leave it at that.”
It prompted a rebuke from Australian greats Mark Waugh and Mike Hussey who said Labuschagne needed to forget about the light and just bat.
“That’s why it’s called Test cricket,” Hussey said on Fox Cricket.
MATCH CENTRE: Australia vs Pakistan, second Test scoreboard, video, stats
WEATHER LIVE: Melbourne forecast, rain, latest at MCG
India & Pakistan play a Test at the G? | 01:01
WEATHER UPDATES
The skies of Melbourne darkened from around 2pm and heavy rain began to fall 30 minutes later.
The Bureau of Metereology forecast reads: “High chance of showers, most likely during the afternoon and evening. Thunderstorms likely, mainly during the afternoon and evening and possibly severe. Winds south-easterly 20 to 30 km/h.”
TEAMS
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Pakistan XI: Imam-Ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamir Jamal
EARLIER
Also clouding the match apart from the skies is Usman Khawaja’s battle with the ICC who, for the second-consecutive Test, banned the Australian batter from displaying a message on his shoes.
Having been banned from having ‘All lives are equal’ on his shoes in Perth, the ICC also stood in over plans to display a dove logo to raise awareness of humanitarian issues.
“Merry Christmas everybody. Sometimes you just gotta laugh. Cya at Boxing Day! #inconsistent #doublestandards,” Khawaja’s response was via Instagram.
Australia captain Pat Cummins defended Khawaja during his Christmas Day press conference, saying there was no difference between the batter’s request and Marnus Labuschagne displaying an eagle on his bat, which symbolises a religious message.
“Not really, no – I don’t know the ins and outs of the application, but I think it is pretty vanilla, a dove,” Cummins said when asked if he saw any difference.
“We really support Uzzy, I think he’s standing up for what he believes and I think he’s doing it really respectfully.
“All lives are equal and I don’t think that’s very offensive, and I’d say the same about the dove. That’s Uzzy.
“He can hold his head high the way he’s gone about it, but there’s rules in place, so I believe the ICC have said they’re not going to approve that. They make up the rules and you’ve got to accept it.”
Australia named an unchanged XI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they look to seal the series against Pakistan, who dropped veteran wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed.
The hosts crushed Shan Masood’s side by 360 runs inside four days at the first Test in Perth, with pace spearheads Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood all coming through unscathed.
It means Scott Boland, who took 6-7 on debut at the MCG against England in 2021, misses out.
“We’re a huge fan of Scotty, I don’t think that’s a secret,” skipper Cummins told reporters on a wet Christmas Day.
“He’s ready to go if anything happens, so I’m sure he’ll play a part at some point.
“The message (to Boland) is always ‘we love what you bring, unfortunately, you miss out on this one but don’t change, keep working hard and make sure you stay ready’.”
Showers and potential thunderstorms are expected for the first day of play but are forecast to clear by Wednesday afternoon.
As it stands, the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting between one and 10 millimetres of rain on Tuesday, with the worst of the weather expected for the afternoon and evening when thunderstorms are also likely.
Cummins said on Monday that he was confident of a result.
“I think there will be plenty of time to finish the game. I don’t think (the weather) will change anything,” he said.
“(The wicket) looks pretty good. Fair bit of grass, probably a little bit harder and not as green as last year.”
Khawaja banned for peace symbol sticker | 00:38
Pakistan have been hit hard by injuries since Perth with fast bowler Khurram Shahzad and their two leading spinners, Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali, all ruled out of the Melbourne match.
They named a 12-man squad with Sarfaraz Ahmed and speedster Faheem Ashraf axed. Mohammad Nawaz will take the gloves, with Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali in contention for Shahzad’s place in the attack alongside veteran Shaheen Shah Afridi and impressive newcomer Aamer Jamal.
With Ahmed and Ali sidelined, Sajid Khan is their only spin option.
“We think Rizwan is ready and we can give Sarfaraz a little bit of a break to recoup and come back,” said Masood.
“It’s more of a tactical decision in terms of the conditions and what we can get out of each player.”