The mind games have begun in Australia and pacer Scott Boland has struck first blood ahead of India’s gruelling summer challenge Down Under in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Limbering up to resume his Test duties alongside senior pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins, Boland made his intentions clear before the second unofficial Test against India A in Melbourne by handing a challenge to India batter KL Rahul.
Rahul, under a scanner after losing his spot in the middle-order for the second and third Tests of a harrowing series defeat to New Zealand at home, had a point to prove while flying out early to join the India A squad. Furthermore, the Karnataka batter was pushed back to open as an audition for the vacant slot in captain Rohit Sharma’s potential absence in the first Test at Perth.
Boland’s words on the eve of the second India A-Australia A contest at the Melbourne Cricket Ground would have put Rahul on his toes. “I was lucky to bowl to him in a Test over in India a couple of years ago but it’ll be nice to play against him in our backyard. 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 most of the summer,” Boland was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“There’s so much more bounce here, more seam. The way they’ll structure their team will be completely different to what you see over in India,” Boland said.
And on Thursday, it only took the right-arm seamer three deliveries to put his words into effect after conceding a four to Rahul off the first ball. Boland pushed the ball further up on a fuller length, angled in towards the off-stump, and lured Rahul into a half-hearted push that landed in the hands of wicket-keeper Jimmy Peirson.
Rahul has had underwhelming Test numbers in Australia over the years, aggregating only 187 runs in one inning with a solitary hundred in his first tour in 2014-15.
