Injured Hazlewood set to miss first Test; doubtful for second game

Recovering from an achilles injury, Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood is set to miss the opening Test against India in Nagpur and also remains a doubtful starter for the second game in Delhi. The 32-year-old had sustained the injury on his left leg after bowling in the rain-affected Sydney Test against South Africa last month. ”Not sure about the first Test. It’s still a few days away but it’s sneaking up pretty quickly,” Hazlewood was quoted as saying by ‘Cricbuzz’ before Australia’s final session at the KSCA Stadium in the outskirts of Bangalore on Sunday. ”Second one is obviously straight after as well. So, we’ll play it by ear over the next week and next few days and hopefully Tuesday goes well,” added the pacer, who is likely to have his first bowl in Nagpur on Tuesday. The opening Test begins on February 9 and if he misses out, Scott Boland might get his first overseas Test. Australia is already without Mitchell Starc for the first Test as the pacer is nursing a finger injury. ”Just a bit of workload management at the moment. Just managing the Achilles. I was bowling a fair bit leading into the tour at home and sort of just pushing up against it,” Hazlewood said. ”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 of the bat and try and get over the hump and have a bowl from Tuesday on (in Nagpur) and hope it goes well.” Hazlewood has had frequent breakdowns in the last two years, having managed to play just four Tests and that too not able to complete a series. ”It’s been frustrating playing one Test at a time,” said the right-arm pacer, who had played the first Test against West Indies but missed the next three with a side strain. Hazlewood had made a comeback in the Sydney Test only to injury his Achilles. ”It always feels the hardest Test to play, the first one and they sort of get easier as they go and you get to the other side, the end of the s