Ashes: Australia fretting over Hazlewood, Warner's injury concerns ahead of 2nd Test

Due to injury concerns, Australian batter David Warner and bowler Josh Hazlewood may miss the second Ashes Test against England in Adelaide. While Warner suffered a rib injury in Australia's first innings at The Gabba, Hazlewood picked up a minor side strain on the third afternoon. Hazlewood is thought to be the biggest doubt for the second Ashes Test, given his injury appears to be more serious than Warner's. Australian skipper Pat Cummins has said that they will continue to monitor Hazlewood and would see how he pulled up before making a decision on his selection. 

In his post-match press conference, Cummins also disclosed that Hazlewood underwent a scan on Friday night and that they will take their time making a decision because they don't want to put the pacer out for the entire series. Cummins also addressed Warner, saying that while Warner was available to bat in Australia's second innings, he did not open because the team did not want to take unnecessary risks while chasing a low total of just 20 runs. After scoring a magnificent 94 runs in the first innings, Warner did not step out to the field due to injury concerns. 

"Yeah he was a little bit sore yesterday, so we just tried to get him through. Obviously it’s a five Test match series, so (we) didn’t want to try and break him yesterday. He pulled up OK today, so we’ll keep managing him.I think a key is we don’t want to put him in jeopardy for the whole series so we’ll take our time. He had a scan last night so we will kind of work through that. He bowled today but no plan yet, sleep on it, see how he pulls up tomorrow," Pat Cummins said in his post-match press conference. 

Who could be Hazlewood's replacement? 

According to cricket.com.au, Jhye Richardson might replace Hazlewood in the starting XI for the second Test. The 25-year-old quick hasn't played a Test match since featuring in two games against Sri Lanka in 2019. He is currently looking in great form having picked 23 wickets at 13.43 in four games for Western Australia in the Marsh Sheffield Shield. Meanwhile, if Warner is ruled out of the second Test, Usman Khawaja will be the most likely replacement. Khawaja has not played for Australia since getting dropped during the 2019 Ashes series. 

Image: cricket.com.au