New Delhi: Star Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the second Test against India scheduled in Adelaide from December 6 – a day-night affair which will be played with pink ball. Hazlewood has sustained a “low-grade left side injury”, Cricket Australia said. This will notably be the first absence of the pacer from a home Test against India. To cover for Hazlewood, two uncapped pacers Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett have been added to the hosts’ squad.
Despite the two inclusions, it is highly likely that Australia fill the void of Hazlewood with the inclusion of Scott Boland, who is part of the original squad that was picked. Boland will be seen in action during the two-day warm-up game against India for the Prime Ministers XI, beginning Saturday. Boland last featured in a Test for Australia during the 2023 Ashes in Leeds.
Hazlewood’s performance vs India
Hazlewood will be dearly missed by the Aussies who are trailing the five-match Border-Gavaskar series 0-1. Hazlewood had bowled a destructive spell against India the last time they played in Adelaide in December 2021, also a pink ball, day-night match. In India’s abysmal 36/9, Hazlewood walked away with figures of 5/8 in just five overs which included three maidens. His start in the current series has been great as he picked 4/29 in the first innings of the Perth Test where India were wrapped for 150. While India were piling runs in the second innings, Hazlewood leaked just 28 runs in 21 overs.
Why Abbott and Doggett were added?
While Hazlewood’s injury is an obvious reason, the uncapped pace pair arrived in the squad on the back of impressive performances in the Sheffield Shield. Abbott, who has stayed on the edges of the Test squad for a while now, picked 4/71 in 16 overs against Tasmania at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He has 261 first-class wickets to his credit. Meanwhile, Doggett clinched a five-for against Western Australia recently to build his tally to 11 in just three Shield games. In the A game against India A in the build-up to the Test series, he turned heads with his career-best returns of 6/15.
Both uncapped pacers have been previously picked in the Test squad as well but didn’t get a game. Doggett was added during the series against Pakistan in UAE in 2018, and Abbott during the 2020-21 series against India. He was also involved in the squad as a reserve in last year’s Ashes.
Australia squad for second Test vs India:
Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
Josh Hazlewood will be missing the day-night pink-ball Test against India in Adelaide after sustaining an injury. Two uncapped pacers have been added as reinforcements to Australia’s squad for the second Test. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
