Josh Hazlewood's Fitness To Be Assessed After 24 Hours

Josh Hazlewood can put a selection Dilemma for the Australian selectors for the third test against India at the Gabba later this week. Hazlewood missed the pink ball test at Adelaide due to low-grade side strain. While the second test was up & running, the Victoria pacer was made to do the fitness drills & rehabilitation on the sidelines in a detailed fitness test.

Josh Hazlewood On His Fitness Ahead of Third Test

"I think it all depends on how I pull through in the next 24 hours. Hazlewood said after his test was aimed at performing regular drills just before a match. "Two spells will make a big difference, bowling one spell then cooling down, then again going in for a spell on the same day with the same intensity takes a little bit of you.

"So yes, a few areas still to be ticked off, I think will depend on how I respond in the next 24 hours' with the same intensity and then think, Ok this is the way I'll be going again If I had to."

Hazlewood has been a regular absentee for Australia in the test circuit in recent times. From June 2021 to August 2023, Hazlewood has played just 4 test matches for Australia. While, he missed a few games for the Aussies, the rest of them he was made to sit out due to conditions. There were also two cases where he was ruled out of key ashes matches against England & the World Test Championship final against India last year.

The Victorian fast bowler said that this injury was a little bit different & he would have made it to this test had it been the last test of the series despite the injury.

"It's not a typical side strain, I've had a couple in my career already," he said. ''It has troubled me a lot in the last few years, But, the preparation ahead of Perth was fantastic, I played a shield game & everything came off well, was a little bit frustrated when it happened again".

"If this was the (Adelaide Test) was the last test of the home season, then I would've played this test risking the injury, I know by the end of the game I would've been in one of the worst conditions, even though it was a short game." I know the feelings and the amount of pain there in that area & what sort of sessions or therapy I need to get out of the injury, this helps me to know my body better, and I know the stuff that I can pull through or can't, whether I'm ready or not, the experience has been positive in this regard".

Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers in the first test at Perth, where the hosts were beaten by a huge margin of 295 runs. In Hazlewood's absence, Scott Boland played the pink ball test at Adelaide picking up 5 wickets for 105 runs across 2 innings. The selectors have a job on their hands to take a call on Hazlewood for the 3rd test at Brisbane that starts later this week.