WTC Final: Shubman Gill is very good player, nice to get him early, says Scott Boland

Australia’s fast bowler Scott Boland was delighted to dismiss Shubman Gill early in the first innings of the World Test Championship final at the Oval on Thursday. Gill, who got off to a start with 13 runs, was cleaned up by Boland when the Indian opener decided to leave the ball alone but it castled into his stumps.

Boland was the pick of the Australian bowlers on the second day’s play as the 34-year-old bowled a probing line and length to breathe down the neck of the Indian batters. The right-arm pacer registered figures of 1-29 in the 11 overs he bowled and bowled a total of four maidens as he kept the pressure on the Indian team.

On the other hand, Gill was a huge wicket for Australia as he is coming into the WTC Final on the back of impressive performances in the IPL. The youngster scored 890 runs in 17 matches for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023 but failed to carry the same form in the first innings as he made an error in judgment in leaving the ball, which seamed back into him.

“Really exciting, pretty nervous before the start of this Test but nice to get into this game,” Boland said. “He’s (Gill) a very good player, nice to knock him over early. We are in a very good spot now.

Meanwhile, Australia have put themselves in a strong position as India was 151-5 at the end of the second day’s play and they still trail by 318 runs. Boland added the Oval pitch has uneven bounce and it is going to be hard for Indian batters on the third day.

“We are strong after 2 days, the pitch is a bit up and down and hopefully it will be harder for India to bat tomorrow. It (the uneven bounce) felt like that in the middle, a couple balls taking off, a couple keeping low.”

On the other hand, Travis Head scored a magnum opus knock of 163 runs whereas Steve Smith added 121 runs to take Australia to a formidable score of 469 runs.

Furthermore, the Australian bowlers were right on the money while the Indian batters could not deliver the goods. In fact, almost all the Indian batters got off to starts but could not go on to make a big score.