The upcoming four-day A-team encounter at the MCG will once again be a crucial stage for Australian batters vying for the vacant spot in the Test side. However, the arrival of Indian Test squad member KL Rahul has added an intriguing subplot to the match.
Rahul, who played the first Test against New Zealand before being dropped, has joined India A to gain match practice ahead of the first Test in Perth. Despite averaging just 20.77 in Australia from five Tests, Rahul could be in contention if Rohit Sharma misses the game due to personal reasons.
Australian quick bowler Scott Boland is eager to make an impression against Rahul, having previously bowled to him in a Test over in India. Boland believes that Rahul is a world-class player but is confident that Australia can get on top of him.
“He’s a world-class player but someone I think we can get on top of pretty early and hopefully stay on top of him for the majority of the summer,” Boland said.
Boland also cautioned against reading too much into India’s 3-0 loss against New Zealand, noting the different conditions in Australia.
“There’s so much more bounce here, more seam,” Boland said. “The way they’ll structure their team will be completely different to what you see over in India.”
While the majority of India’s Test squad will not have a full game in Australia before the first Test, Rohit Sharma explained that the team opted for match simulation instead of a practice match to allow batters and bowlers more time in the middle.
Boland is expected to be the reserve quick in the Test squad and is likely to feature at some point, given the belief that the durability of the “big three” bowlers last season was an outlier.
Boland has been working his way back from injury and is eager to make an impact.
“It felt like a long six months between games,” he said. “Remember being out on the ground in the Shield game and was just really happy to be back playing cricket.”
