Injured Australian speedster Josh Hazlewood, who will not be seen in the upcoming series against India due to an injury, is confident in making a comeback into the national side for the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales.
The player is scheduled to see the team’s doctor later in the week and the scans will determine when he would be able to stage a comeback.
The vice-captain of the Austalia’s Test team missed the two recent Test matches against Sri Lanka with a back injury and has also been ruled out the series against the Men in Blue.
The right-arm pacer also shared that he was targeting World Cup warm-up games for his return, with a follow-up scan on Friday set to shed more light on his progress.
Hazlewood shared, “I think we will know a lot of more after tomorrow, to be honest. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, we will start working through it. Hopefully, if it is going along to plan. Everything feels fine so training’s coming along nicely, progressing every week. I think we will just work back from the World Cup really and make sure everything is right for that, which gives me plenty of time.”
Hazlewood is not the only pacer who is struggling with an injury. His fellow teammate Mitchell Starc has also been ruled out of the India series due to a pectoral injury in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka. The left-arm pacer is targeting to work on his injury and get well soon before the One-Day International series against Pakistan.
Right-arm pacer Kane Richardson has been named as Starc’s replacement for the India tour as the 27-year-old makes a return to the Australian side after 9 months. He played his last T20 International for the Kangaroos in June, last year.
Australia and India will start their proceedings with a two-match T20 International series starting from February 24 followed by a five-match ODI series beginning from March 2.
Here’s the full Australian squad for ODIs & T20Is –
Aaron Finch (c), Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa, and D'Arcy Short (cover for Marsh).