Agnijit Sen in Sydney
I had the opportunity to interview former Indian wicket-keeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta once. I asked him about the toughest bowler he faced. Without batting an eyelid, Deep Dasgupta said, “Shaun Pollock. He would run in and bowl the same line and length throughout the day.” Sometimes, this is exactly what you need from a Test match bowler.
Boland is a perfectly cut out Test match bowler. He loves to bowl long spells, loves running in and boy, does he love Virat Kohli or what? Once in World Test Championship Final 2023, once in the day-night Adelaide Test, once in the Boxing Day Test and twice in the ongoing Sydney Test in this series. Boland now has Kohli 5 times in Tests, the most by any bowler.
That is a remarkable record in itself. A lot of people may argue that bowlers now know how to get the big fish back in the hut early. Just bowl close to the off-stump in the corridor of uncertainty, keep harping on the 5th and 6th stump lines. Kohli knows it too. And of late, he’s leaving a lot of those too. But how does Boland get the better of him almost every time? The answer is simple. Boland is checkmating Kohli in terms of sheer patience.
Patience is a term you usually associate with batsmen in Test cricket. Boland is proof that bowlers get paid for their patience too. He doesn’t have express pace like a Brett Lee, nor does he possess vicious swing like a Mitchell Starc, what he can do is hit the nagging, irritating line and length over and over again. Close to off stump, right in the corridor of uncertainty, hitting the good length-back of a good length, sometimes slightly fuller. For hours. For sessions. For days.
It simply amazes me to think that Boland would not have played in the ongoing series if Josh Hazlewood had made it to the playing XI. Hazlewood had to sit out twice, once with a side-strain and then with a calf injury. With Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood forming a formidable pace trio for Australia at home, replacement would have been difficult.
For the Latest Sports News: Click Here
In comes Boland. Let’s look at his economy for the last two tests he has played. In the first innings of the Boxing Day Test, his economy was 2.11 after bowling 27 overs. That’s simply astonishing. Add the wickets of Rishabh Pant, Kohli and Akash Deep to it and suddenly the bowling figures look phenomenal. Equally good in the second innings, Boland finished with an economy of 2.43. He picked up the all important wicket of Ravindra Jadeja and then accounted for Akash Deep and Bumrah to mop up the tail.
However, the best spell of Boland was kept for the first session of the ongoing Sydney Test. Bowling under overcast skies on a surface which has live grass, Boland found the key to success very quickly. The pitch played perfectly to his strengths. Boland kept hitting the same areas over and over again, allowing the pitch to do the rest. And the surface did not disappoint him.
Some balls leapt up, others seamed both ways with appreciable carry to leave the Indian batters reeling. Jaiswal was unable to keep the leaping ball down, just when Kohli was looking set, Boland lured him with a fourth stump ball. The in-form Nitish Reddy was done in by a jaffa first ball. The ball hit the perfect length, seamed just a touch to square up Nitish who ended up giving catching practice to Steve Smith in the slip cordon. He also accounted for Rishabh Pant’s wicket and finished with 4 wickets and an economy of 1.55 in the first innings. After dismissing Pant and Reddy in the same over, Boland got a standing ovation from a full house SCG. That’s what he has earned. He is the crowd’s favourite without stupid stunts like Sam Konstas but by sheer hard work and perseverance.
In the second innings, he has looked equally threatening so far, cleaning up the openers Jaiswal and Rahul, and once again accounting for Kohli. The Australian team will surely go to him again tomorrow again to restrict India quickly.
Despite all his heroics, Boland knows he will once again start as a reserve when the Ashes come next year. Or will he? That’s one tough call the selectors will need to make. Also, Boland needs to showcase his skills outside Australia. But for now, Boland knows he has done his job. He has irritated the batters, bowled long, tireless, thankless spells, hit metronomic lines and lengths. His remarkable consistency of hitting the same areas throughout the day and his knack of picking wickets may remind you of a Glenn McGrath or a Shaun Pollock. Boland can be their rightful successor.
Also Read: Game awareness – The salient feature of Pant’s efforts at MCG