'He's done nothing wrong' - Pat Cummins on Australia excluding Scott Boland from WTC Final 2025 versus South Africa

As the World Test Championship Final 2025 beckons, the reigning winners Australia announced their Playing XI for the epic clash against South Africa at the historic cricket venue of the Lord's in London, starting June 11. One of the most shocking exclusions from the playing combination was that of ace speedster Scott Boland, who has undoubtedly been one of the biggest match-winners for the Aussies in the recent past. 

Australia went ahead with in-form and more experienced Josh Hazlewood over him. Skipper Pat Cummins has opened up on Boland being ignored for the game. He said that while the pacer has been at his absolute best with the ball, he does not fit the team combination right, and has to unfortunately miss out from playing the game, as Hazlewood gets a green signal.

"There are some guys where you genuinely say 'You've done nothing wrong, don't change a thing'. And Scottie's is just really unfortunate to miss out. Joshie Hazel (Hazlewood) 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,” Cummins said ahead of the pre-match presser.

The 2023 champions will be featuring a power-packed line-up, which includes the like of Marnus Labuschagne, as the star batter will be seen opening the batting for Australia. On the other hand, Cameron Green returns to the dressing room and will be batting at 3 in his comeback match. Apart from Cummins and Hazlewood, New South Wales pacer Mitchell Starc is also in the mix with Nathan Lyon as the specialist spinner. Alex Carey will be keeping the wickets.

WTC Final 2025: Playing 11s

AUS: Usman Khwaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon

SA: Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Temba Bavuma, Tristan Stubbs, David Bedingham, Kyle Verreynne (wicketkeeper), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Sani Ngidi