Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has taken two spells in the full force at Adelaide Oval on Monday and he expects to know within 24 hours whether he will be available for the third Test against India in Brisbane.
Hazlewood did not play in the 10-wicket defeat to India at Adelaide on Sunday, as the latest of a string of side strains have cost him his career.
“It’s going to be how I come in the 24 hours after it, really,” Hazlewood told reporters.
“It’s just that same (doing) and yeah two spells make a big difference. Slowed down pretty much all of a sudden and back up again the same day and the intensity has got to be pretty high as well.
“So there’s a couple of things to check off but probably the 24 hours later and pulling up the next day and then like “heck, I’d be in the right to go back if I had to”.
Scott Boland who hasn’t been in a Test for 17 months replaced Hazlewood in the pace attack in the second Test, and posted 5-105 as Australia won in just three days to tie the series 1-1.
Hazlewood said he would have probably been able to play through the pain in Adelaide but always approached side strains with care, with the number he’s had.
“I think I would have been pretty bad by the end of the game – it was just a little game, but it wasn’t quite right,” the 33-year-old added.
“Got Scotty there obviously, and he is great every time he comes on. When you’re not at 100%, well… you just have to be 100% to play.
Hazlewood was also on to the controversy after his comments at a press conference after the first-Test hammering were read by some outlets as evidence of a dressing room divide between bowlers and batsmen.
“I didn’t care about that when I walked out of that press conference, which is a normal press conference for me and, yeah, it was pretty weird how things worked out,” he said.
“But I think the fog there for a while, 10 days in between games, that was a talk.”
On Saturday, the third Test at Gabba begins.