Gavaskar senses something fishy about Josh Hazlewood’s ‘mysterious’ omission from pink-ball Test: ‘Strange that no one…’

The 295-run defeat in Perth has now put the Australian team under the scanner as they will desperately try to bounce back in the pink-ball Test.

Gavaskar claimed Australia had already hit the panic button with Hazlewood ruled out of the pink ball Test.

“The panic in the Australian ranks is palpable, with former players calling for heads to be cut and some even hinting at cracks in the Australian team following Josh Hazlewood’s media interview at the end of the third day of game, where he suggested that it was up to the batters to do something now,” Gavaskar wrote in his column on Sportstar.

Hazlewood has a good record in Pink Ball Tests, as the 33-year-old took 5 for eight in five overs in the day-night Test against India here in the 2020-21 series when the visitors were bundled out for 36 .

‘No one noticed anything wrong with Hazlewood at the press conference’

Cricket Australia said Hazlewood was suffering from a secondary strain and had been officially ruled out of the Adelaide Test. Gavaskar suggested a conspiracy behind this as it was omitted days after his comment at a press conference.

“Now, a few days later, Hazlewood is ruled out of the second Test and possibly also the series with a supposed secondary strain. This is strange, since no one had noticed anything wrong with Hazlewood during this press conference. Mystery, mystery – like what was common in Indian cricket in the past, it’s the Australians now, and like old McDonald, I love it,” Gavaskar wrote.

Uncapped seamers Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett have been called into the squad as cover, Cricket Australia said on Saturday. However, Scott Boland is the favorite to replace Hazlewood in the playing XI for the pink-ball Test after representing the Prime Minister’s XI. team during the preparation match.