Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 picked Australia's Scott Boland as the main reason for Pat Cummins-led side's win in the five-Test match series.
Team India registered a 295-run dominating win in the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the side failed to get the momentum further as Australia defeated Rohit Sharma-led side by 10 wickets in the second Test match in Adelaide. The third Test match ended in a draw. The series was levelled 1-1 after the third Test match. After that, Australia won the remaining two Tests to register 3-1 win in the series.
Interstingly, Scott Boland was featured in the second Test match as Josh Hazlewood's replacement. Hazlewood played the third Test match (ended in a draw). Boland then featured in the fourth and fifth Test matches.
Ashwin believes that Josh Hazlewood's injury, which allowed Boland to come back into the side for the final two Tests, was a blessing in disguise.
"Everyone said that Pat Cummins had a great series, but he struggled against left-handers. Australia were lucky that Scott Boland came into the team. If Boland hadn't played, India would've won the series," Ashwin said, speaking on his Hindi YouTube channel Ash ki Baat.
"No offence to Josh Hazlewood; he's a fantastic bowler. But if they continued with the same attack, we would've won. Boland's round-the-wicket deliveries to our left-handers were a major factor," Ashwin added.
Boland took 21 wickets in three Tests in the series, finishing as the third-highest wicket-taker. He starred, in particular, in the final Test, picking up 10 wickets and being named the 'Player of the Match'.
