Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has stated that he won't be shocked if some of his teammates refuse to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns. Australia is due to visit Pakistan in March, their first tour of the country since 1998.
Australia will play three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I on their visit to Pakistan. The Test matches will be held in Karachi (March 3-7), Rawalpindi (March 12-16), and Lahore (March 21-25), with the four white-ball matches taking place in Lahore from March 29 to April 5.
"There's a lot of things in place and there's been a lot of work in the background by CA and the ACA. So, the trust is quite high there from the players, but there'd certainly be some concerns from the players and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them don't make the tour," cricket.com.au quoted Hazlewood as saying.
"And that's very fair. People will discuss it with their families... and come up with an answer and everyone respects that," he added.
Also Read: PSL 2022: "Outstanding standard of cricket," Michael Vaughan says PSL very close to IPL
Hazlewood had missed the last four Ashes 2021-22 Tests due to a side strain, and he expressed his frustration regarding his wait on the bench.
"If I'd had a normal (side strain), a big injury and you know you're going to be out, then you can deal with it all at once. But it just kept teasing, kept teasing, I might be able to play this one, I might be able to play that one," said Hazlewood.
"I've certainly had a typical side strain, where you tear your oblique (muscle), you can't bowl another ball and are out for at least six or seven weeks. This one was different... the strength came back really quickly, and I could do a lot of things in the gym. It was just bowling, that dynamic movement, that caused a bit of grief. It was an unusual one," he added.
When asked how he felt Australia winning the Ashes 4-0, the pacer said: "It was very frustrating. You probably don't realize it as much now, but when you look back in 10 years ... people will talk about the Ashes when they won 4-0 in 2021 ... and it'd hit you again."
"It was frustrating watching and obviously as time goes on, you'd be reminded of it more often than not. But that's part of fast bowling, I guess," he added.
(With ANI Inputs)
