India vs Australia: Hazlewood sidelined, Boland to feature in Adelaide Test

Canberra: Saturday's cricket match at Manuka Oval was unfortunately cancelled due to rainy weather, but the real action was off the field in the Australian camp. Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the upcoming second Test at Adelaide due to a side strain he suffered during Australia's recent loss in the first Test in Perth. Cricket Australia reported it as a "low grade" left-side injury.

Hazlewood claimed 4/29 (13 overs) in India’s first innings in the opening Test and 1/28 (21 overs) in the tourists’ second knock -- the most successful host bowler in Perth -- and was often the only Aussie bowler who could keep a lid on the scoring rate.

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He will most likely be replaced by Scott Boland in the playing XI but CA has added two more players to the squad as cover. Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett are in of the mix for the Adelaide Test that will be played under lights, from December 6.

Boland, though, is now expected to play his first Test since last year’s Ashes series in England. The Victorian quick has taken 35 wickets at an average of 20.34 from 10 Tests after debuting in 2021, yet chances to represent Australia have been few and far between given how consistent Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood have been in the past.

Boland, however, is confident that he will be up to the challenge if picked.

“I had a really good prep for the Test,” said Boland, who was first informed about Hazlewood’s injury two days back. “Obviously I haven’t played a heap of cricket in the start of this season, but I feel like I’ve played enough cricket to feel like I’m in a really good spot. My body’s feeling really good now. I had a couple of niggles that were a little bit sore but my knee and foot are feeling really good and I’m confident how the ball is coming out.”

Pink-ball challenge

A huge part of the Adelaide Test is going to be how the teams are going to cope with the extra movement of the pink ball. Both squads have been trying to get used to it and then deal with the twilight period as well.

“It does behave a bit differently at night, but during the day it’s pretty similar to a red ball. I feel like the teams that bat first can time when they want to bowl, if they bat really well on that first day. If you get a newish ball at night, it can be pretty lethal,” said Boland.

“The pink ball feels more like a white ball than a red ball but it seems to last a bit better than a white ball… I think it’s been a couple of instances where the ball hasn’t dominated the bat. Maybe last year at the Gabba we took the new ball and didn’t get as many wickets as what we would have hoped in that night session,” the Aussie pacer added.

India pacer Prasidh Krishna also feels that the ball tends to not age as rapidly as the red ball.

“The seam is dyed black, which makes it heavier and a lot more pronounced. It does give a lot more off the seam. It means it’s going to do a little more than the red ball in terms of shine and also when the lights come on and take away the reserve swing,” said Prasidh in a video posted by BCCI.

Pacer Mukesh Kumar, who had a short indoor nets session at the Oval, feels that the seam isn’t always prominent enough for the batters to spot. “The seam isn’t visible that easily. Some batters see the shine of the ball and play it accordingly. But you can’t see it easily on the pink ball,” said Mukesh.

Much will be dependent on the match situation and when you are bowling. When the lights come on, it is a different ball game and that pretty much makes it a match of two very distinct parts.

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