We Could Play Five Specialist Bowlers says Tim Paine

Headline: Australia vs New Zealand 2nd Test | We Could Play Five Specialist Bowlers says Tim Paine

Australia are all set to take on New Zealand in the second Test match of the series on the Boxing Day at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.

Having won the first Test, Australia already have an edge over the Kiwis walking into this fixture on the Boxing Day. Australia has had an issue with Josh Hazlewood’s injury and as a result he has been replaced by James Pattinson, that has been confirmed by Justin Langer already.

Despite that replacement, Australian skipper Tim Paine might play another bowling all-rounder in the form of Michael Neser, who would be the 459th Test player to don the Baggy Green. However, Paine is not sure about the move as of yet as he wants to assess the pitch on Thursday before taking that call.

"We'll find out tomorrow. The wicket is a bit unknown ... but we've got a plan in place for both scenarios (with Neser or without). We've probably got two different teams (in mind), to be honest, so we'll make the final call tomorrow," Paine said as reported by Cricbuzz.

Paine is wary of the fact that the Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch has assisted the batsmen in the past in the Boxing Day Test matches. Since the Australian batting unit has done really well in recent times in the longest format of the game, as a result of that, Paine wants to add to his bowling arsenal in the second Test against New Zealand so that wicket taking becomes a little easier.

“Looking at the wicket in the last two or three Boxing Day Test matches, it's been very hard to take 20 wickets. Our batting team has been scoring a lot of runs so if we were to go one more bowler, we would be comfortable they could do the job. The bowlers we would be bringing in can all bat so while we're taking a batter out, we're probably lengthening our line-up," the Australian Test captain added.

It remains to be seen how Australia shapes their lineup for the Boxing Day Test against New Zealand. Paine and co. will look to assert their dominance and take a 2 – 0 lead in the series but it is not going to be a cakewalk for the Aussies as one can never write off the Black Caps.