IND vs AUS, 3rd Test: David Warner doubtful with concussion, Josh Hazlewood ruled out of series remainder
IND vs AUS 2022-23: Australia has failed to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after losing the second Delhi Test to India. Meanwhile, David Warner is doubtful with a concussion for the third Indore Test, while Josh Hazlewood is out of the series remainder.
FollowAustralia is yet to produce a commendable performance in its ongoing tour of India, having lost the opening couple of Tests and missing out on the chance to win back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. As things move to the third Test, to be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, doubts remain over explosive senior opener David Warner, who most of the second Test in Delhi with a concussion, while injured pacer Josh Hazlewood would need more time to recover and has been ruled out of the remainder of the series.
As per ESPNCricinfo, Australian head coach Andrew McDonald confirmed the development and said, "Josh Hazlewood out, he'll be going home. [Warner]'s still sore at the moment. We had a meeting just before discussing this. We're in no rush to make any decisions around Davey. Just seeing how that settles, how functional that is."
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"It will be basically how sore and functional it is as to what decision we make with him and then the length of the injury. There's some talk the length of injury could be anywhere between a week plus depending on how that settles down. There's a bit of unknown there. I'll leave that to the medical team, and they'll inform me once they know," added McDonald.
Speaking on Warner's replacement, McDonald backed Travis Head to fill in for him and stated, "If Dave's unavailable, it will make perfect sense. We discussed before coming over here that if we were to lose an opening batter, Trav would be one we'd look to put up there. We feel in the subcontinental conditions that, he can get off to the fast start he showed. We don't see [Head] as an opener in all conditions, more subcontinental and in other conditions back to the middle order."
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At the same time, McDonald backed all-rounder Cameron Green and seamer Mitchell Starc to be fit for Indore, noting, "He [Green] was close [to playing in Delhi]. It's building confidence. He had the setback in Bangalore, a little setback batting in Bangalore where he had some jarring, and there was a fair bit of discomfort in that finger."
"If he didn't have that, I think the second Test was real. But it probably just delayed it those few days. And we contemplated him as a concussion sub as well. So, that was another discussion. But, we felt like if he wasn't right to go at the start, what was a couple of days? We're better off loading up for the third Test match and in a good frame of mind," continued McDonald.
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While there were talks of a now-fit senior all-rounder Glenn Maxwell being recalled for the India Tests after his return to Sheffield Shield, McDonald brushed it aside by saying, "He's played one game. What did he get [to score]? Five! He played club cricket and got 61. We'll see how we go. We've got the one-day squad that we'll announce. If he gets through everything he needs, he'll be a starter for that one-day series. Anything forward of that will be discussed."
