Josh Hazlewood to return for Gabba Test, Scott Boland to make way

Aussie captain Pat Cummins says his team preparing to go down the short-ball route that devastated India in Adelaide as Josh Hazlewood returns to the side.

India’s tail is set for another ballad of chin music at the Gabba with Australia preparing to go down the short-ball route that devastated the tourists in Adelaide.

The Aussies have made a changing to their playing personnel with Josh Hazlewood returning at the expense of the unlucky Scott Boland, but there will be no deviation from the winning bouncer formula that helped crush the Indians inside seven sessions last weekend.

Australian captain Pat Cummins roared into the series with five second innings wickets at Adelaide Oval. Though his delivery to remove Indian skipper Rohit Sharma clipped the top of off-stump, Cummins cleaned up against the Indian lower order with vicious short-pitched bowling that sent Ravichandran Ashwin, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana on their respective ways.

And with the series locked at 1-1, there will be no relenting when the third Test starts on Saturday in Brisbane.

“It worked out in the Adelaide Test. It’s always in back of your mind as a bit of a Plan B or if it’s looking really uncomfortable and likely to take wickets maybe it becomes a Plan A to some batters,” Cummins said.

“It worked in Adelaide so I’m sure we’ll give it a shot at some point in this Test. For the tailenders it looked like a wicket was very likely.”

Josh Hazlewood is set to return. Picture: SAEED KHAN / AFP

Boland will not however have the chance to get in on the act after Hazlewood was given the green light to play after missing the second Test with a side strain.

Cummins conceded Boland had been stiff to miss out but suggested that the Victorian could yet play a part in the back end of the series.

“Yeah it’s tough. He was fantastic in Adelaide. And he’s unfortunately spent quite a bit of time on the bench over the last 18 months, and whenever he plays he’s fantastic,” Cummins said.

“Shame for Scotty but still a fair bit to play out this series.

“He’s amazing every time he plays who we absolutely love around the group. He’s one of all of our favourites. It’s just about preparing for (fourth Test at) the MCG because there’s a good chance we might need you. History suggests there’s always some form of natural attrition throughout the Test series.”

Cummins said Hazlewood had benefited from not pushing himself too hard when warning signs had emerged in Perth.

“He’s had no hiccups, had a really good bowl yesterday,” Cummins said.

“We’ve seen it a few times where Joshy’s kind of pushed through to get through a Test match and a little bit of soreness turns into a month or two of injuries. We kind of made the call then that it wasn’t worth the risk of keeping him bowling.”

Cummins said he expected the Gabba pitch would provide a better contest between bat and ball than the last red-ball Test at the venue two years ago in which Australia beat South Africa in just two days.

“Looked at it yesterday, looked like a good wicket, like it has been the last few years. Bit of sun baking on it the last couple of days. I don’t think it’s as green and leafy say as it was against South Africa. So wait and see tomorrow,” Cummins said.

But he downplayed the significance of Australia suffering two Test defeats at the ground in the last four years, having gone more than three decades between Test losses in Brisbane before 2021.

“It’s just a venue really. We play in dozens and dozens of venues around the world each year. It’s always good coming back to a place that’s familiar and as a player you can look back at times when you might have scored runs or bowled well, I think that really helps. But the scoreboard starts at 0-0.”
AUSTRALIA TEAM: Khawaja, McSweeney, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Marsh, Carey, Cummins, Starc, Lyon, Hazelwood