Mitchell Starc appeared to twinge his back while batting.

Captain Pat Cummins was absent after being deemed a close contact of someone who tested positive for Covid-19, while Josh Hazelwood had a side strain.

Both Cummins and Hazlewood have returned to the squad for the third Test.

Australia are 2-0 up in the five-Test series with the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground starting on December 26.

Boland, who has played 14 one-day internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals, has been in good form for Victoria in Australia's domestic Sheffield Shield competition, taking 15 wickets from two matches against New South Wales at an average of 10.

He also played for Australia A against the English Lions in Brisbane earlier this month before joining the main squad in Adelaide for training.

After Melbourne, the fourth Test will take place at Sydney, with the fifth, which will also be a day-night match, moved to Hobart from Perth because of Covid-19 restrictions in Western Australia.

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.