Aussie big quick Josh Hazelwood will return to Australia playing XI for the third NRMA Insurance Test against India with the paceman overcoming the side strained that sidelined him in Adelaide.
Captain Pat Cummins confirmed Scott Boland would make way for Hazelwood at the Gabba, admitting the Victorian was unlucky to lose his spot after he took five wickets in Australia’s second-Test victory.
Hazlewood coming in for Boland is the only change to the home side’s XI that beat India by 10 wickets in Adelaide to level the series at 1-1.
Australia XI for third Test: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood has a history of side strains that Cricket Australia medical staff were wary of leading into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. But Cummins was confident his fellow quick could get through the full Test.
“He’s had no hiccups ,” Cummins told reporters on Friday. “He had a really good bowl yesterday, he had another bowl in Adelaide a couple of days previously. Him and the medical team are really confident.”
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Cummins Conceded he’d had to stop bowling Hazelwood in the first test in Perth in the interests of not making the injury worse. The 33-year-old picked up the minor blow to the same side that has caused him issues in recent years but was able to continue bowling.
“It was later on in that second innings,” said Cummins. “Fair to say we probably thought the game was starting to slip away. We still needed six or seven wickets and we were about 400 behind.
“We’ve seen it a few times where Josh has pushed through to get through a Test match and a little bit of soreness turns into a month or two of injury.
“So we made the call then that it probably wasn’t worth the risk of keeping him bowling. I think he bowled an extra two overs leading into a tea break and he said it felt ok, but I just kind of thought from there, ‘that’s enough’.”
Boland counted Virat Kohli among his victims during a stellar return to Test cricket in Adelaide, his first match since last year’s Ashes, but it was not enough to stop the big three fast bowlers from being reunited.
“It’s tough. He was fantastic in Adelaide,” Cummins said of the 35-year old.
“Unfortunately he’s spent quite a bit of time on the bench over the last 18 months and whenever he plays he’s fantastic. “It’s a shame for Scotty, but still a fair bit to play out this series. I’d be surprised if he didn’t play again in this series.”
On Test eve, the Gabba surface appeared significantly less green than it had in the lead-in days with groundstaff wary of the 2022 Test here against South Africa that was over in two days. Venue staff conceded that particular strip had been over-watered.
