Australia to blood two new pacemen for India one-day opener

REUTERS – Uncapped pacemen Joel Paris and Scott Boland will make their international debuts for Australia in the first one-day match against India in Perth on Tuesday.

The pair join Josh Hazlewood and fast bowling all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner in a pace-heavy attack at the WACA.

Having lost Mitchell Starc to foot injuries for the entire home summer and fellow left-armer Mitchell Johnson to retirement in November, Australia fast-tracked 23-year-old Western Australian Paris into the side after impressing in domestic limited overs cricket.

Johnson and Starc enjoyed success at the WACA using the ‘Fremantle Doctor’, a dependable afternoon sea-breeze, to swing the ball into right-handed batsmen and Australia captain Steve Smith said that had come into calculations in picking Paris.

“Traditionally we like to play a left-armer here who can use the breeze and move the ball so hopefully he’ll be able to do that for us tomorrow,” Smith told reporters in Perth on Monday.

Boland, 26, was a surprise selection in Australia’s test squad against West Indies and impressed with a seven-wicket innings haul for Victoria state against Western Australia at the WACA in November.

“His death bowling has been very impressive,” Smith said.

“I think he hits a yorker as well as anyone at the moment. He’s got a bit of pace to him so hopefully he can hurry up the Indian batters a bit.”

Smith also said he hoped the WACA would be back to its traditionally fast and bouncy ways after it was widely criticised for being a batsman’s paradise during the recent test series against New Zealand.

Over 1,600 runs were piled on in the five-day draw, with six centuries scored.

“It looks a little bit soft at the moment under foot,” Smith said. “It’s obviously a day out from the game. We’ll wait and see how it looks tomorrow.

“But hopefully it’s got a bit more pace and bounce than the test match we played here.

“I guess the WACA and Gabba have been a fortress for us in one-day and test cricket for a while.

“Obviously it’s a bit different to what the Indians are used to back home. Hopefully we can exploit that early on.”

The Perth match is the first in a five-game series against India.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)