All-rounder Michael Neser has been selected by Australia to take the place of injured Hazlewood in the World Test Championsip final match against India on Sunday.
Due to an injury, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the ICC World Test Championship Final against India on Sunday.
Australia said that all-rounder Michael Neser will take Hazlewood’s place for the final, which gets underway at the Oval in London on Wednesday. Hazlewood, 32, has been battling an Achilles and side ailment.
The right-arm seamer also had to cut short his time with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 due to an injury before returning to Australia for medical attention.
Neser, 33, has so far played for Australia in two Tests and the same number of ODIs. In recent outings for Glamorgan in the English Country Championship, he has been in excellent form, taking 19 wickets from five games and making a century against Sussex and Australian colleague Steve Smith.
Neser and Scott Boland could compete to be Australia’s third-choice seamer for the championship game. Boland has only participated in seven Test matches for his nation, but he has already taken 28 wickets at an astounding average of 13.42.
Australia, however, anticipates Hazlewood to make a comeback for the forthcoming Ashes series, which will start on June 16 in Birmingham.
Updated Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Standby players: Mitch Marsh, Matthew Renshaw
