Courtesy: Cricket Australia
Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, who picked up a five-wicket haul in the Indian second innings, to help the team win the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series by 10 wickets in Adelaide, gave an update on his fast bowling teammate Josh Hazlewood’s fitness afterwards. The right-arm fast bowler, who missed out on playing the second Test due to a side strain, is on track, according to Pat Cummins, to be a part of the Australian playing XI in the third Test in Brisbane next week.
In the absence of Josh Hazlewood, Australian brought back Scott Boland into the playing XI for the second BGT Test in Adelaide, who picked five wickets across both the Indian innings, to play a support role to Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. These three Australian pacers shared all 20 wickets in the second Test, which was played under floodlights at the Adelaide Oval with the pink ball, bowling out the Indian cricket team twice under 200 runs.
Josh Hazlewood will bowl tomorrow and then we will have to assess from there: Pat Cummins
Travis Head was by far the top performer with the bat for Australia, scoring 140 runs in 141 balls with 17 fours and five maximums in a player of the match performance in front of his family and friends at his home ground, the Adelaide Oval. Shortly after the big win, Pat Cummins was asked about the latest update on Josh Hazlewood’s recovery from a side strain, and he seemed hopeful about his fast bowling compatriort’s return to the starting lineup for the next Test.
The Australian captain revealed that Josh Hazlewood is set to bowl tomorrow in the nets, which will bode well for his chances of making the third Test next week. He was quoted as saying, as per India Today, “Joshu (Josh Hazlewood) will have to bowl tomorrow, so he's all on track. He will bowl tomorrow and then we will have to assess from there. But yeah, it's all gone to plan so far. So we are fairly confident that he will be alright for Brisbane, and we'll know more in the next couple of days. Yeah if someone has to make way, that'll be pretty unlucky.”
The third Test of the BGT series between Australia and India will be played from December 14 to 18 at the Gabba in Brisbane.
