Josh Hazlewood sows seeds of uncertainty over Australia pace trio’s BGT stretch

In the 2023-24 season, Australia pace trio featuring Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood played all seven Test matches - that is three against Pakistan, and two each against West Indies and New Zealand. The trio in 2023 made it clear that they want to play all the Tests but this time, Hazlewood is unsure if they will play all five Tests against India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which is slated to begin on November 22.

All-rounder Cameron Green is already ruled out of the series owing to a back injury. That is likely to increase the workload of the Australia pacers as Green used to carry the burden to a certain extent. It’s unclear if Mitchell Marsh will be bowling in the series and that puts the Australia pace trio in a difficult spot. 

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With the increase in workload, the trio may end up not playing all five Tests. Hazlewood understands that and reflected that they will take one game at a time. He added that if the pacers think they are fit enough, they will play all the games, or else there will be someone to replace them. 

“We did it last year, but it was probably a one-off. You've just got to take it as it comes as it's not like T20 or one-day where you know you're going to bowl 10 (overs), you know you're going to bowl four - it's like, you could bowl 50 overs, you could bowl 25 so there's really no point in planning for it. If you're fit to play, play and if you're not, you don't play.” Hazlewood was quoted a saying by The Australian.

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“It's as simple as that, no one rests a Test match and if you're ready to go the day before, then you play and if you're not, you sit down. We've got enough in the stable to roll through a couple of guys who we know can do a really good job,” he added.