Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood said that he’s not sure about his return to the team for the fourth Test match of ongoing Ashes 2021-22 at SCG.
After having an impressive performance in the first Test of the Ashes 2021-22 in Gabba, which Australia won, Josh Hazlewood has missed the next two matches in Adelaide and MCG respectively.
The right-arm pacer suffered a side strain during the first Test match in Brisbane, which ruled him out of the second Test. He, however, was expected to play in the ongoing third Test in MCG but his injury kept him out of the match.
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Speaking to SEN, Australian pacer Josh Hazelwood said that he’s not sure about his availability for the fourth Test of Ashes 2021-22 at SCG. He remarked that he’s likely to bowl on Day 3 or Day 5 of the ongoing match and from there he'll build up. He revealed that he hasn’t bowled in 10-12 days and will only take the call after he bowls in nets.
“I’m still a little bit away, (this Test) is probably a week early. We’re still not sure, we’re going to take this week as it comes and likely have a bowl on Day 3 or Day 5, see how that goes and then build up from there. The workloads are still there from the first Test, but obviously, I haven’t had a bowl in 10-12 days and we’ll see how it goes on Day 3,” Josh Hazlewood said.
Hazlewood revealed that unlike the usual "strains" he has suffered before, this injury is a "slight tear" in the intercostal between the ribs. He added that decisions in his return will be made on how he feels in the coming days.
“It’s probably more on feeling this one, it’s a bit of an interesting one, it’s the intercostal in between the ribs, there’s a slight tear. I’ve never had it before, I’ve had the normal oblique side strain, which is the common one, but we’re taking each day as it comes and we’ll make the decisions on basically how I feel,” he said.
Australia is currently leading the five-match Test series 2-0 with the third Test underway at MCG. The fourth Test will take place on 5th January at SCG. While the fifth and final Test match, a day-night affair, will take place on 14th January at Hobart.
(Reuters inputs)
