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A CA spokesperson said Australia will make a squad replacement for Josh Hazlewood.
Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Josh Hazlewood has sustained a right calf strain and won’t play any further part in the ongoing Gabba Test of the 2024 Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia. He is also likely to be ruled out of the next two matches in Melbourne and Sydney.
The injury was confirmed in his medical scans on the fourth Day of the Test. He sustained the injury during warm-ups before the day. Still, he came out to bowl, trying one over with gingerly, off-pace deliveries. Soon, he was seen in discussions with skipper Pat Cummins and physio Nick Jones, before walking off the pitch and then to the hospital.
“A squad replacement will be made in due course,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson said.
It is a massive blow to Australia’s BGT campaign and also to the Gabba Test. Pat Cummins has been a bowler short for most of the day, which has hindered his plans to bowl India out before the Follow-On threshold. At Tea, when Hazlewood’s injury was confirmed, India were 201/7, trailing by 244 runs.
Hazlewood was also their best bowler in the first Test in Perth. He missed out on the second match, the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, due to a side strain.
He looked back to his best in the first innings at the Gabba, bowling five overs on a rain-marred third day and also taking the wicket of India’s number four, Virat Kohli. Now, Scott Boland, who played in Adelaide in his absence, is likely to take his place in Melbourne (December 26-31) and Sydney (January 3-7).
Earlier in the day, former Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe had questioned Australia’s decision to rush Hazlewood back, which he believed was done to manage the pacers’ workload.
“Trying to look at the Australian strategy, I think they had in mind that Hazlewood should play this and miss Melbourne,” O’Keeffe said, as quoted by Fox Sports. “Melbourne is by a long way his worst pitch in Australia and then (Mitchell) Starc miss Sydney, which is a long way his worst pitch in Australia. So I think they factored in that Australia was going to play this one and that (Scott) Boland, who loves the MCG would come in for Melbourne. And that may well be the case now anyway. The Boland numbers are irresistible. But questions will be asked, was he (Hazlewood) fit going into this game?”
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Brisbane, Australia
