Josh Hazlewood ruled out of 1st India vs Australia Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in doubt for 2nd
Josh Hazlewood's absence will open the gates for Scott Boland, which could also be his maiden appearance in an overseas Test. Australia will also miss the services of Mitchell Starc for the early part of the series.
Days ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the visitors endured a huge blow as Josh Hazlewood is set to miss the first encounter, which is scheduled to start from February 9 in Nagpur. The report further stated that he is doubtful for the second, which will be played in Delhi.
Hazlewood confirmed that he is yet to recover from an Achilles injury on his left leg, which he sustained while bowling in Sydney Test against South Africa last month. And due to this, the pacer has not been actively participating in the pre-series camp and is expected to roll his arms only from February 7. His absence will open the gates for Scott Boland, who could also be making maiden appearance in an overseas Test. Australia will also miss the services of Mitchell Starc for the early part of the series.
"Not sure about the first Test. It's still a few days away but it's sneaking up pretty quickly. Second one is obviously straight after as well. So, we'll play it by ear over the next week and next few days and hopefully Tuesday goes well," Hazlewood was quoted as saying on Sunday.
"Just a bit of workload management at the moment. Just managing the Achilles. I was bowling a fair bit leading into the tour at home and sort of just pushing up against it. Probably wasn't recovering as well as I would have liked between each session so thought we'd give it a few days here straight of the bat and try and get over the hump and have a bowl from Tuesday on (in Nagpur) and hope it goes well," he added.
Hazlewood has been constantly battled injury woes over the past two years, and has featured in just four Tests in the time period. He was part of Australia playing XI in the first Test against West Indies at home, which was played shortly after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup held in the country. However, he failed to continue and was forced to sit on the sidelines for the next three games due to a side strain. The pacer then returned to action for the Sydney Test, only to injure his Achilles.
"It's still lingering from the (Sydney) Test match probably. We obviously bowled after a lot of rain and the jump-offs were quite soft, where we were taking off from and they ended up replacing them as well. It sort of worked to a degree. But just that extra load jumping off a soft ground to bowl and again first Test match. Your body is not used to that sort of workload as well.
"It's been frustrating playing one Test at a time. It always feels the hardest Test to play, the first one and they sort of get easier as they go and you get to the other side, the end of the series, it gets hard again. Hopefully I can string a couple together on this tour," said Hazlewood.