Australia skipper Pat Cummins has announced his team's playing XI for the upcoming Test match against Team India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. Pat Cummins revealed that Josh Hazlewood will make his return to the team after recovering from an injury sustained during the first Test.
Josh Hazlewood missed the second Test match in Adelaide due to a side strain. Scott Boland replaced him in the playing XI for the day-night match, where Australia secured a comfortable 10-wicket victory. Boland, who played his first Test after nearly 18 months, took five crucial wickets across two innings.
Josh Hazlewood Had A Really Good Bowl Yesterday - Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins confirmed that Josh Hazlewood will replace Scott Boland in the playing XI for the Gabba Test. Cummins is confident in Hazlewood's readiness for the match, considering his bowling in net sessions.
"Josh comes back in ... had no hiccups. 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," Cummins told reporters on Friday.
Hazlewood, who is Australia's fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests against India, has an impressive record at the Gabba with 37 wickets in eight matches. The pacer was the best bowler during Australia’s loss in the first Test in Perth. He took four wickets in the first innings and bowled tight spells in the second.
Cummins revealed that he stopped using Josh Hazlewood as a bowler during the second innings of the Perth Test to avoid worsening his injury. Cummins said that continuing could have turned minor soreness into a long-term injury, and they decided it wasn’t worth the risk.
"It was later on in that second innings. 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," said Cummins.
"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."
Scott Boland Was Fantastic In Adelaide - Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins admitted that Scott Boland delivered a fantastic performance in Adelaide but found it tough to leave him out for the upcoming match. The Australian skipper said that Boland would feature again during the last two matches of the series.
“It’s tough; he was fantastic in Adelaide. He’s unfortunately spent a fair bit of time on the bench over the past 18 months. And whenever he’s played, he’s been fantastic," Cummins said.
“A shame for Scotty, but still a fair bit to play out this series. I would be surprised if he doesn’t get another crack at some point," he added.
Australia Playing XI for the 3rd Test vs India:
Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
Also read: South Africa lose Anrich Nortje in their battle against Pakistan
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