Australia captain Pat Cummins has recently opened up on Josh Hazlewood‘s availability for the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be played in Gabba, Brisbane.
Hazlewood missed the second Test in Adelaide due to a side strain. He played in the first Test of the series and also emerged as Australia’s best bowler of the match with a four-wicket haul in the first innings.
Scott Boland replaced Hazlewood in Adelaide and played a key role in Australia’s win. Boland picked up five wickets in the match which included the dismissals of star batters like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill.
Also read: ‘Australia better than us’: Rohit Sharma surrenders hope after crushing Adelaide Test loss
Pat Cummins breaks silence on Josh Hazlewood’s fitness
While speaking to the reporters after the match, Pat Cummins gave the fitness update on Josh Hazlewood. Cummins revealed that Hazlewood is on track to be available for the Brisbane Test and an update can be expected in the next two days.
During the press conference, Cummins also mentioned that the bowler who will make way for Hazlewood will be unlucky to miss out despite a superb performance in Adelaide.
“Josh (Hazlewood) will have a bowl tomorrow. So he is on track (to be fit for Brisbane Test). Yeah, it’s all gone to plan so far. Fairly confident he’ll be right for Brisbane, we’ll know more in the next couple of days. And yeah, someone who’ll make way, he’ll be pretty unlucky,” Cummins said.
“Fairly confident he’ll be right for Brisbane, we’ll know more in the next couple of days.”
– Pat Cummins on Josh Hazlewood’s fitness #ASID pctitrcmfjvF8<!–>b
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) D–>eebr8 04
Josh Hazlewood returned figures of 4-29 in the first innings of Perth. He played an instrumental role in India getting bowled out for just 150. In the second innings, he finished with exceptional bowling figures of 1-28 in 21 overs as India piled on 487-6 Dec.
The problem of plenty for Australia
Meanwhile, the Australian team management is likely to have a problem of plenty if Josh Hazlewood is deemed fit for the next Test. Hazlewood’s replacement Scott Boland bowled excellently in Adelaide and will be hard to replace now.
All the Australian pacers had a fantastic match in Adelaide as they constantly troubled Indian batters throughout the match. Mitchell Starc picked up a six-wicket haul in the first innings while Pat Cummins picked up a five-wicket haul in the second innings.
Scott Boland finished with 2-54 and 3-51 across the two innings of the match. There is also a possibility of Nathan Lyon missing out on the next Test if the wicket favors fast bowlers. Lyon bowled just a solitary over in Adelaide.
Australia level the series
The series is now level 1-1 after Australia’s brilliant comeback in Adelaide. Travis Head was the star for the home team as he scored a belligerent century. Head scored 140 off 141 balls while Marnus Labuschagne also scored a fine half-century.
Australian fast bowlers also played a key role in the team’s victory. The third Test of the series will begin on December 14 in Brisbane. With the series level 1-1, it promises to be a fantastic Test match.