The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that Josh Hazlewood has been included in Australia’s final 15-man squad for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, despite recent injury concerns. Hazlewood had to cut short his Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign due to “minor side soreness,” but Cricket Australia has declared him fit for the winner-takes-all test match at The Oval in London, which is set to commence on June 7.
The 32-year-old fast bowler joins captain Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, and Mitchell Starc as the specialist fast bowlers in the Australian squad. However, all-rounder Mitch Marsh and batter Matthew Renshaw, who were initially part of the squad, did not make the final cut. On the other hand, India has confirmed the 15 players they announced three weeks ago, except for wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul, who withdrew due to a right leg injury. Rahul has been replaced by the uncapped Ishan Kishan.
India has also named uncapped opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, along with Mukesh Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav, as standby players. These standby players can only replace an injured player in the squad with the approval of the ICC technical committee.
Following the WTC final, where both teams will be vying for their first title, Australia will proceed directly to the Ashes series against England. The first test of the Ashes series is scheduled to start at Edgbaston on June 16.
The squads for the WTC final are as follows:
Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan.