Hazlewood Confident for T20 WC Return After Injury Recovery

Hazlewood, one of the key members of the Australian squad in recent years, has been under scrutiny because of injury concerns. The right-arm pacer was sidelined at the start of the Ashes series with a hamstring strain and later sustained an Achilles injury during his rehabilitation.

He will miss the latter stages of the Big Bash League and the late January T20I series against Pakistan. However, he aims to return in a warm-up match ahead of the World Cup early next month.

Hazlewood said the extended recovery period has helped him progress steadily, allowing him to resume light bowling and running while continuing his strength programme.

"Everything is going to plan. We took a few extra weeks once we could not make the Tests. I had a couple of bowls off the half run last week. Running is going well, all the strength stuff is going well, so yeah, on track," the fast bowler told ESPNcricinfo.

Hazlewood was in prime form during the white-ball series against India in October last year. He took three wickets in three ODI matches, conceding just 72 runs across his spells. The Australian pacer also played in three T20 matches, conceding only 37 runs in 12 overs and taking three wickets.

Australia remain one of the favourites to win the T20 World Cup, having lifted the trophy in 2021 under Aaron Finch's captaincy. They failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2024 edition after losing to Afghanistan in the quarter-final.

The Mitchell Marsh-led side has been placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. They will play their group-stage matches in Sri Lanka, beginning their campaign against Ireland on February 11 in Colombo.

- IANS