NEW DELHI: Australia are tweaking their bowling strategies for the Adelaide day-night Test against India‘s top-order batters, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. This follows Australia’s loss in the first Test held in Perth. Scott Boland, a seasoned pace bowler, is likely to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood in Adelaide. Despite the adjustments, Boland assures there’s no panic within the Australian team.
Hazlewood’s side strain creates a void in the Australian bowling attack. Boland, at 35, is expected to fill that gap, bringing his expertise in bowling tight lines against the impressive Indian batting lineup.
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After rain washed out the opening day’s play between India and the Australian Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, Boland spoke to reporters, acknowledging the need for minor strategy revisions.
“We’ve spoken as a team about our plans for all the different Indian batters. I won’t tell you those, but we’ve got pretty set plans. They might have a little bit of a tweak after the guys have seen them again from Perth,” Boland said.

Despite losing the first Test, Boland emphasized a calm atmosphere in the Australian dressing room. He assures that the team is analyzing individual performances and aiming for improvement, but there’s no major concern.

“There’s definitely no panic stations in our change rooms. There’s obviously going to be some chats around individual performances, and everyone wants to perform really well every game they play,” he said.
He further reiterates that the loss is just a single setback. “But yeah, it’s like, we’ve lost one game.”

India’s top-order batters displayed excellent form in the Perth Test. Jaiswal’s 161 and Rahul’s 77 formed a record 201-run opening stand on Australian soil, followed by Virat Kohli’s 30th Test century. Boland acknowledged the strong performance of India’s openers.
“Obviously, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal batted really well there. KL Rahul batted well in the second innings as well and really dug in,” Boland noted.
“So we’ll probably have a chat over the next week, and our plans might slightly change, but I’m pretty confident what we did in the first game was good.”
The Australian pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood struggled to contain India’s second innings. Boland defended his teammates, attributing the difference in performance to the longer break enjoyed by the Indian bowlers between innings.
“I think our bowlers bowled really well as well. Maybe the only difference was that the Indian bowlers got a really nice long break between their first innings and second innings, whereas our break wasn’t as long,” he explained.
Boland credits his meticulous rehabilitation process for his return to contention. He emphasized a cautious approach to avoid re-injury.
“I worked really hard in the off-season to get my body to a spot where I’m confident that if I get another chance, I’ll be able to perform for Australia again. I didn’t want to rush anything and risk re-injuring myself, so we took it pretty slow with my rehab,” he shared.