Australia vs South Africa: All teams should learn from Australia's decision to go with Scott Boland rather than Josh Hazlewood

However, it is no longer a question – Australia confirmed their playing XI ahead of time, and the name of Boland was in the line-up. 

Australian captain Pat Cummins said it was just a matter of Hazlewood himself feeling 'underdone' when he spoke about the reasons for his exclusion. 

"We gave Joshy every chance, but it just got to a stage where he more than anyone else felt like he was a little bit underdone," Cummins told reporters. 

"It's a mark of the man; he said '[I] don't feel quite right', so he pulled himself out of selection.

"We talk a lot about how as a team we need a squad mentality, and I think it's another great example." 

Now, if Cummins himself is to be believed, a lot of this depends on Hazlewood's fitness not being up to scratch. 

However, there have been instances in the past when teams have tried to rush players back – especially ones as key as Hazlewood – at the expense of long-term recovery. 

This wasn't the case this time, and it is an intelligent decision on behalf of a side that has proven it knows how to make good calls like this. 

Yes, it certainly helps their cause to have a backup player who performs as well as Boland. Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, their other two key pacers, are also in excellent shape.

Still, it also speaks to the team looking out for the player first and foremost – while also doing their best not to derail the career of a bowler who has done nothing to deserve getting dropped. 

In recent times, we have seen India try to rush Jasprit Bumrah back from his injury layoff, and Pakistan did the same with Shaheen Shah Afridi. 

It did not work, and now both players are on the shelf for an extended period – and it is no rocket science to assume this would not have been the case if they had been appropriately managed and recovered fully. 

That isn't the only lesson to take from here – the other is that it is best to back a player when he is going through a rich vein of form. 

In the first Test against Bangladesh, Kuldeep Yadav was India's best bowler – he bagged a five-wicket haul and took 8 of the 20 Bangladesh wickets in the game. 

However, in the second Test, he was dropped for 'tactical' reasons. What those tactics were didn't seem clear since Mirpur has always been a spinner's paradise, and Bangladesh went in with three of them. 

The grass on the pitch aided the fast bowlers in no way whatsoever, and by Day 2 itself, the seamers were out of the game. So the decision made no sense. 

However, Boland playing the second Test for Australia makes plenty of sense for the reasons mentioned above. More teams can and should learn from this.