Australian captain Pat Cummins has confirmed that Josh Hazlewood, fit again, will replace Scott Boland in the fielding XI for the third Test, starting Saturday at the Gabba. Hazlewood missed the pink-ball Test in Adelaide because of a lateral strain.
‘Hazlewood will play. Too bad for Scotty (Boland), he has been absent a lot in the past. Important series, he might still have his chances. Josh played yesterday (at Allan Border Field and not at the nets at the Gabba),’ Cummins told reporters before the third Test.
‘Josh did not play at the nets here, just because the length of the run-up was not enough. So we took him to Allan Border Field,’ he added. The Australian captain also revealed why Hazelwood was underbowled in the second innings of the opening Test in Perth.
‘In the second innings in Perth, the game was starting to slip away, we decided it wasn’t worth the risk pushing Josh to play more,’ he said. Cummins praised Scott Boland, who did a fantastic job with the ball in Adelaide.
‘Boland is unbelievable in how he is in the group, how he prepares. He has shown that his standard is still very high,’ he said. With the series locked at 1-1, Cummins hopes the team’s senior pros Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja will return to form at the Gabba.
‘Smithy is looking great at the nets. He looks fit. He’s been caught behind the leg, I won’t read too much into it. He’s a leader in the group, he’s been fantastic,’ Cummins said. ‘Khawaja is a bit like Smithy. He has been fantastic at the nets. He loves to bat at the Gabba, he knows it very well. I hope he scores runs,’ he said.
The current Australian cricket team has been labelled as an ageing team by former cricketers and pundits. However, Cummins does not think so, he said: ‘I think the players are playing longer than they did 15 years ago. We are very keen on picking the best X1. We have the system to bring up well-prepared youngsters. Nowadays there are no series to bring up young people for the sake of it.’
On the Gabba pitch, the Australian captain said: ‘The pitch looks like a good wicket. A bit of sun baking. I don’t see it as green as it was against South Africa.’
Pat Cummins also spoke about the win in Australia and the pressure of being the captain of the Australian cricket team. ‘There is definitely pride in winning in Australia. You grow up playing here. The hardest thing is winning away from home,’ he said.
‘There is always pressure and when you are captain, a lot of it falls on you. It’s nothing new. We didn’t play well in Perth. Some of the other criticisms can be ignored.’ The Australian captain sent a stern warning to the Indian dressing room that they will again use the short ball strategy at the Gabba.
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