Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the ICC WTC final against India due to an injury on Sunday.
Australia named all-rounder Michael Neser as Hazlewood’s replacement for the final, which has to begin at the London Oval from Wednesday, after Hazlewood continued to suffer from Achilles and side problems.
This right-arm pacer also came early in the mid of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 because of the stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore due to injury before flying back to Australia for treatment.
Neser has played in two Tests and in two ODIs for Australia so far. He has recently been in fine form for Glamorgan in the English Country Championship, he picked 19 wickets in his 5 matches and also scoring a century against Sussex.
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Neser could come into contention with Scott Boland as Australian team third choice for the finals. Boland played just 7 Tests for Australia.,but took 28 wickets at a fine average of 13.42.
Australia, meanwhile, expect Hazlewood to return for the upcoming Ashes series, which is scheduled to begin in Birmingham on June 16.
New updated Australia squad:
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Standbys:
Matthew Renshaw, Marsh