Josh Hazlewood gives Australia WTC final boost

Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood reckons he has the potential to compete in the World Test Championship final against India if he can get through some tireless training sessions over the next week after missing the majority of the IPL due to stiffness concerns. 

The decision to pull Hazlewood from the IPL midway was told to be precautionary, and diagnostics cleared no injury to his side. Furthermore, Hazlewood only bowled nine overs for Royal Challengers Bangalore during their IPL campaign, taking just three wickets before going back home ahead of his trip to the UK. The pacer suffered two side strains in the last two years, missing four Tests in the 2021-22 home Ashes series and three more last summer against the West Indies and South Africa.

However, he was able to power through bowling sessions in Sydney before heading with the team to England last week. The group held their first official training session in England on Tuesday in Formby, West Lancashire, with Hazlewood going nearly full tilt following an easy bowl on his own soon after arriving. Josh claimed that he is getting closer to his full potential but would need to bowl over a week before getting considered ready to play in the WTC final against India, which commences next Wednesday at the Oval in London.

"My fitness is pretty good. It is just a matter of ticking off every session from here until that date, basically.

In T20, you are bowling a lot of various different balls every over. A wide yorker to a bouncer to a slower ball, and [the side] just got jammed up a little bit, and a bit of scar tissue from previous injuries flared up,'' Hazlewood told the ICC.

"It calmed down pretty quickly. I had a week off, I didn't quite get back to going 100 percent at [the] IPL, but the last few bowls have been good, and I have been building up nicely," he added further.

Hazlewood has only played four of Australia's last 19 Test matches and has not played in back-to-back first-class games since early 2021. Meanwhile, he will likely have to get through two solid bowling sessions on Thursday and Saturday if he's any chance to play in the WTC final.

As the Indian Premier League just came to a close, the Indian cricket team will square off against Australia in the high-octane World Test Championship (WTC) final, which will begin on June 7.