“Stay on top of him’: Australia pacer Boland on targeting KL Rahul | Cricket News
Seasoned fast bowler Scott Boland will feature for Australia A as they take on India A on Thursday and the 35-year-old is eager to have a go at India star KL Rahul. Rahul, going through a lean patch, has landed in Australia with Dhruv Jurel to get extra game time. The Karnataka batsman has been struggling to find his form ahead of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Boland knows about Rahul’s poor record in Australia – an average of 20.77 from five Tests. Boland, who was part of the World Test Championship winning squad of 21-23, feels Rahul needs to be attacked early to keep him in check.
“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,” he said.
“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,” Boland added.
It’s no secret that the fast and bouncy pitches of Australia are nothing like what one sees on the subcontinent. Boland is aware that the Indian management will do their homework before landing in Australia.
“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.”
Rahul only featured in the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru, scoring only 12 runs with a duck. He was later dropped for the returning Shubman Gill in Pune and Mumbai during India’s first Test series whitewash at home.
