Will Hazlewood injury force the hand of selectors with all-rounder position?

The decision to pick Josh Hazlewood in Brisbane has come back to haunt Australia after the star quick went down with a calf injury which looks set to rule him out for the rest of the series.

The right-armer only bowled one over on Day 4 before leaving the ground, leaving Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to do all of the leg work as India avoided the follow-on late in the day.

Perhaps with Hazlewood, Australia would have been able to break the back of India and pushed for a result on Day 5. Instead, the game looks destined to end in a draw.

While the Hazlewood selection was risky given he missed the Adelaide Test with a side strain, it was even more hazardous given that Mitch Marsh is clearly hampered and only bowled two overs on Day 4.

On top of potentially getting the Hazlewood decision wrong, SEN Cricket’s Gerard Whateley pondered whether selectors should have picked all-rounder Beau Webster in place of Marsh as a safety blanket in case one of the seamers goes down.

He discussed the selection calls with former Test opener Simon Katich on SEN Cricket ahead of play on Day 5.

Katich: “I'm worried about the impact it (Hazlewood’s injury) could have for the rest of the series if we don't get the right result here.”

Whateley: “Compounding that is Mitch Marsh bowls only two overs, so he's not a safety blanket for them. They did leave themselves exposed if they wanted to take a risk (with Hazlewood).

“Perhaps they needed to bring Beau Webster in as their safety blanket. They ran the gauntlet, there's no other way to assess it, and they lost.”

Katich: “They definitely lost this and they've definitely run the gauntlet because they know that if Mitch Marsh has only bowled two overs yesterday, there's a reason for that, and they obviously know that because we saw in Perth he did not back up.

“It's Test cricket, you've got to be able to back up. If you can't back up day, after day, after day (you’re in trouble), because you can't assume you're just going to knock teams over in a day and then not bowl again for two days. There's no guarantee that'll happen in Test cricket.

“India is too good for that, and they've been caught out in that regard because he's supposed to be a genuine all-rounder, and from what we've seen so far in this series you can't say that.

“To bowl two overs yesterday, there's got to be something wrong with him.”

Whateley: “That’s right, and their eyes are wide open on that.”

With Hazlewood now sidelined, Scott Boland looks almost certain to play in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

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