IND vs AUS: Josh Hazlewood likely to miss first Test in Nagpur, doubtful for second

Australia's ace pacer Josh Hazlewood is likely to be ruled out of the first Test in Nagpur, which is slated to begin on February 9. The 32-year-old is yet to recover from an Achilles injury on his left leg, which he picked up during the Sydney Test against South Africa last month. He hasn’t been much active in the pre-season camp of Australia in Alur and thus, there’s massive concern about his availability.

Now, according to reports, it is expected that the pacer will bowl for the first time on February 7 and a decision will be made after that. In case he misses out, Scott Boland is likely to replace him in the playing XI, given his recent heroics with the ball against West Indies and the Proteas. Meanwhile, Hazlewood’s availability for the second Test is also in doubt considering the short gap between the first two Tests.

“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 as quoted by Cricbuzz.

I was bowling a fair bit leading into the tour at home: Josh Hazlewood

“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 replied when asked about his lack of participation in the practice sessions thus far.

Notably, Hazlewood has played only four Test matches in the last two years. He has been plagued with injuries and never played more than one match in a Test series in the meantime. The cricketer revealed that it has been frustrating for him but expects to change that this time around.

“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,” Hazlewood concluded.

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