Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood is set to return to the bowling crease for his Indian Premier League (IPL) side the Royal Challengers Bangalore after a four-month absence.
The 32-year-old paceman was initially selected for the four-Test tour of India but had to depart the series midway after failing to overcome a nagging Achilles complaint.
Hazlewood, who took 20 wickets at 21.85 in four Tests during the last Ashes tour in 2019, has been one of only four specialist pacemen named in the Aussies' squad for the first half of their UK campaign.
The medical team of Cricket Australia has been keeping a close eye on Josh Hazlewood's recuperation ever since he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) earlier this month. If Hazlewood completes his final training session successfully before the upcoming match against Lucknow Super Giants, he is likely to receive clearance to participate.
The injury-plagued fast bowler has been itching to get his body in shape for the six Tests in eight weeks beginning with the World Test Championship final against India at The Oval from June 7. He has only featured in 11 of Australia's past 28 Tests since the 2019 Ashes campaign, having also battled hamstring and side injuries.
Despite these setbacks, he has still been able to snare 38 victims at an average of 22.26, quality numbers which have only added to the annoyance.
Hazlewood has reiterated that Test cricket remains his top priority despite his T20 success in recent years. He intends to prepare himself for the Test series while playing in limited-overs tournaments and holds a grand focus on building up his Test-match bowling loads as a primary concern.
"I've chatted with guys at Cricket Australia, Cricket NSW … to get a plan together. It's probably about short-term loss versus long-term gain a lot of the time," he told Cricket.com.au.
"It might hurt that particular series, or you might not be 100 per cent, but in the long term, you might be better placed for an Ashes or a home Test summer. It's just about summing up what's right and how much you can do."
Hazlewood is on a $1.44m deal with the RCB and will use the back-half of the IPL season to increase his bowling workload and chances of selection for the upcoming Test matches. Selection chief George Bailey has suggested that the smaller workload, through short bursts in the IPL, might be the necessary build for him.
"He's reasonably experienced, and he's very professional so he knows exactly what and where he'll need to be to be at his best for the Ashes," said Bailey.
Bangalore are currently fifth on the IPL table after their loss to Kolkata and with six more regular season matches, will be hoping Hazlewood can lift their chances of success at season's end.
