New Delhi: Scott Boland is aware he could play a key role in the Boxing Day Test against India as he is set to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in the playing XI.
Boland was preferred to Hazlewood in the day-night Test at Adelaide because of his superior record with the pink ball but was benched for the third Test at Brisbane.
But a side train to Hazlewood, which he termed ‘random’, has opened the doors once again for Boland, whose disciplined approach and effectiveness has admirers in the Australian team.
It has fetched him 40 wickets in 11 Test matches so far, and Melbourne Cricket Ground remains special for him as he claimed 6/7 on debut here, in the second innings against England.
In Australia’s first training session on Monday, Boland’s focus for the game became evident as he bowled in a single net without any batters. His aim was to find the ideal length to bowl at the MCG track.
As he is not a conventional swing bowler and relies more on movement off the pitch, it is imperative for him to find the accurate length at MCG in order to trouble the batters.
He tried to bowl at the good length area of around five metres in the presence of assistant coach Daniel Vettori. He tried to to land the ball on four yellow cones placed around five metres from the batting popping crease, reports PTI.
After a brief chat with Vettori, Boland then adjusted the cones to back of length spot of around seven metres and landed his deliveries at that spot consistently while generating steep bounce.
Top Aussie batters struggle at nets
Barring series leading scorer Travis Head, almost all Australian batters have been in circumspect form and certainly they didn’t look confident at nets.
Steve Smith scored a laboured ton in Brisbane but he was bowled during an extended throwdown session while trying out an unconventional, no gap between feet stance.
Marnus Labuschagne is in danger of losing his spot in the team and played and missed repeatedly in his latest training session fellow struggler Mitchell Marsh was bowled as he shared a net with the far more confident looking Beau Webster.
Scott Boland will replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s pace-bowling attack in the Boxing Day Test against India at the MCG Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
