Revealed- Why Scott Boland wasn't picked in Australia XI for the ICC World Test Championship final

On the eve of the final of the ICC World Test Championship, the Australian cricket Team announced their playing XI for the final against South Africa. What caught the attention of many was that Scott Boland didn't feature in the team, and it raised many eyebrows. 

This is because Scott Boland has been one of the major reasons behind the success of Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship. The premier pacer was in a red-hot form during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and helped his team win the series by the margin of 3-1. 

With the kind of form that he has been in, it was expected that Scott Boland would be there for the final against South Africa. However, that wasn't the case as Australia went with the pace trio of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and skipper Pat Cummins.

I think the message to Scottie is there's a lot of Test cricket coming up in the next couple of years - Pat Cummins

During the press conference, skipper Pat Cummins talked about the omission of Scott Boland, saying that he is unfortunate to miss out. But he sent a message to the pacer, saying that this wasn't the last game of his career. Speaking to reporters, he said: 

"There are some guys where you genuinely say you know you've done nothing wrong, don't change a thing. And Scottie's is just really unfortunate to miss out. Joshie Hazel comes back in, we know how good he is. 

"But I think the message to Scottie is there's a lot of Test cricket coming up in the next couple of years and just because you're mid-30s doesn't mean, you know, you're missing this test and that's one test off your career." 

Scott Boland has picked 56 wickets from 13 Test matches so far at an average of 17.66. The fast bowler also has bagged two five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul to his name.