MIRPUR, BANGLADESH - AUGUST 27: Josh Hazlewood of Australia prepares to bowl during day one of the First Test match between Bangladesh and Australia at Shere Bangla National Stadium on August 27, 2017 in Mirpur, Bangladesh. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

When Josh Hazlewood suffered a side injury in the opening Test of this summer's Ashes series, it wasn't supposed to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the series.

But it did just that.

After first being ruled out of the second Test in Adelaide, he then missed the Boxing Day Test as well with Cricket Australia confirming the recovery was taking longer than expected.

The emergence of Scott Boland, form of Mitchell Starc and consistency of Pat Cummins meant there was no need to rush Hazlewood back, even for a pink ball Test in Hobart, and he would ultimately miss the series.

He is set to return against Sri Lanka in the upcoming T20 series, but has opened up on the frustrating length of his recovery to cricket.com.au.

"That carrot was dangling there throughout the whole summer," Hazlewood said.

"If I'd had a normal (side strain), a big injury and you know you're going to be out, then you can deal with it all at once. But it just kept teasing, kept teasing, I might be able to play this one, I might be able to play that one.

"I've certainly had a typical side strain, where you tear your oblique (muscle), you can't bowl another ball and are out for at least six or seven weeks.

"This one was different … the strength came back really quickly, and I could do a lot of things in the gym. It was just bowling, that dynamic movement, that caused a bit of grief. It was an unusual one."

Hazlewood also said he believed he had the injury before the Gabba Test.

"I'd go back to even halfway through quarantine when I was bowling at training," he says.

"We thought it was a bit of just rib impingement because when you tear a muscle, it just goes in one ball. We thought it was something else … but it kept lingering around.

"I got through quite a lot of work in that period and leading into the game (at the Gabba) it was still there a little bit, but I thought I was managing it.

"You try and put your finger on something when you do an injury, whether it's taking shortcuts here or there or an increased workload or you missed your mark at training. But I'm not sure with this one, to be honest. There's obviously an increased workload, but apart from that, it was just an unlucky one, I think."

Following the Sri Lankan five-match T20 series, Hazlewood is likely to be picked for Australia to tour Pakistan in a three-Test series, with three ODIs and a T20I also included.