Australia lose injured Josh Hazelwood for first India Test

With Mitchell Starc already missing, Scott Boland is in line for his first overseas Test in Nagpur

The Cricketer | 05/02/2023 at 10:26

Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the first Test against India, with Australia expected to turn to Scott Boland in Nagpur.

A left Achilles issue suffered during the drawn game against South Africa at the SCG also leaves the seamer struggling to be fit for the second Test in Delhi.

Hazlewood has rested the injury and hopes to resume bowling on Tuesday, but the start of the series two days later (February 9) comes too soon.

"It’s still lingering from the (Sydney) Test match," he said.

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Scott Boland has taken 28 wickets in his first six Tests (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

"We obviously bowled after a lot of rain and the jump-offs were quite soft where we were taking off from, and they ended up replacing them as well.

"It sort of worked to a degree, but just that extra load jumping off a soft ground to bowl and again first Test match (back from injury) your body is not used to that sort of workload as well.

"I was bowling a fair bit leading into the (India) tour at home and sort of just pushing up against it. It probably wasn’t recovering as well as I would have liked between each session.

"So thought we’d give it a few days here straight off the bat and try and get over the hump and have a bowl from Tuesday and hope it goes well."

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Finger injuries to Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green leave Australia short of seam options (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

Mitchell Starc is absent with a finger injury, while a similar problem for Cameron Green means he is not yet fit to bowl.

Scott Boland is therefore in line for his overseas Test debut at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

The second indigenous man to play Test cricket for Australia debuted in the MCG Ashes Test in 2021/22 and already has 28 wickets at 12.21 in six appearances.

Uncapped seamer Lance Morris is also available for selection, but it was captain Pat Cummins and Boland who took the new ball during drills at a pre-series training camp in Alur.