Australian pacer Scott Boland wants to extend the barren run of KL Rahul and keep him under pressure ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy when he faces the Indian batter in the four-day A-Team match here from Thursday. Rahul along with wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel flew early to Australia, and will appear for India A in the second four-day game at the MCG. “I was lucky to bowl to him in a Test over in India a couple of years ago, but it’ll be nice to play against him in our backyard,” Boland was quoted saying by ESPNCricinfo.

Rahul made a hundred on his debut tour to Australia in 2015 — 110 at Sydney — but his overall performance Down Under is scratchy, with an average of 20.77 in four Tests.