Australia have been dealt a body blow even before the start of the four-match Test series against India as tall pacer Josh Hazlewood is set to miss the opener in Nagpur starting Thursday, February 9, as per reports. This will be indeed a big blow for the Aussies, who already are without the services of left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc for the first Test. With all-rounder, Cameron Green too facing the race against time to be fit for the opening game, the pace bowling stocks of Australia are found wanting ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
As per a report by Cricbuzz, Hazlewood is yet to recover from his Achilles injury in his left leg and the pacer too was unsure of his participation at Jamtha. “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 said.
Hazlewood said that he didn’t take much part in the practice sessions in Alur because of workload management. The fast bowler mentioned that he was in a good rhythm before the tour but hasn’t recovered as well as he would have liked. “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.
Starc at Cricket Australia (CA) awards had mentioned that he will be fit to go from the second Test onwards in Delhi. In the absence of both Starc and Cummins, the man of the hour for Australia, Scott Boland could be in line to play his first overseas Test with the tearaway pacer Lance Morris, having an outside chance of making his debut. If Green too isn’t able to make a full recovery by Wednesday, the selection plans for Australia will go for a toss once again.
