The squad has suffered a blow as a result of Hazlewood's injury, which was brought on by side pain during the IPL.
Digital Desk: Due to an injury, Josh Hazlewood will not play in Australia's World Test Championship match against India. Michael Neser, who will be joining the team for the upcoming game at The Oval on June 7th, has taken over as the spearhead. Scott Boland is now the favourite to get into the starting line-up as a result.
The squad has suffered a blow as a result of Hazlewood's injury, which was brought on by side pain during the IPL. He will still be taken into consideration for the forthcoming Ashes series, though, as he remains an important member of the Australian team. Hazlewood is still a contender for the first Test, which will be played on June 16 in Edgbaston, according to chief selector George Bailey.
Josh was "very, very close to getting the go-ahead," but we understand that this isn't a one-off Test match for us because of our impending schedule, which includes the WTC final followed by five Ashes Tests. Josh will have the best preparation possible for Edgbaston thanks to this. We will use our entire fast bowling resources because we have six Test matches coming up in just over seven weeks.
Neser recently got back from a county cricket tour where he played for Glamorgan. Neser and Sean Abbott were called back from their county responsibilities to practice with the Australian squad in Beckenham since it was unclear whether Hazlewood would be available.
"Michael's county form has been strong, and knowing that he was going to be close by allowed for him to keep playing and for us to be able to call on him," Bailey said.
Concerns regarding Hazlewood's fitness were raised when he left the IPL after just three games for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Despite scans ruling out any side injury, the choice was seen as a precaution given his recent string of problems, including two side strains in the prior two years and an Achilles problem. He has only participated in four of Australia's previous 19 Test matches as a result, and he hasn't featured in consecutive first-class matches since early 2021.
Despite these setbacks, Hazlewood was chosen to play in the WTC championship game, but only after putting in a lot of training time beforehand to demonstrate his fitness. He was still highly optimistic about making it as of May 31. Hazlewood bowled three sessions during practice on Saturday, indicating he was not yet prepared to play again, but the announcement on Sunday came after that.
Fortunately, Australia's WTC squad includes additional skilled quicks. These players include captain Pat Cummins, who is back after missing Australia's previous two Tests in India due to family obligations, and Mitchell Starc, who is fully healthy after missing the first two games of that India series due to an injury to his finger.
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