Aaron Finch has suggested that Australia might need to manage Josh Hazlewood's Test appearances more carefully in the future, following the pacer's second injury in three matches, which ruled him out of the remainder of the India series.

After sustaining a mild side strain in Perth that sidelined him for the Adelaide Test, Hazlewood returned for the third Test in Brisbane. However, he experienced a calf strain during the warm-ups on the fourth day. He bowled just one over as a fitness test before heading for scans, which confirmed the severity of the injury.

After playing ten consecutive Tests from Old Trafford in last year's Ashes to the opening match of this series, Hazlewood now finds himself back in a pattern reminiscent of the 2021-2023 period. During those two years, his career was disrupted by injuries, limiting him to just four Test appearances.

"With Hazlewood he's getting injured more and more regularly so that would be a real concern," Finch told ESPN's Around The Wicket. "Think there's an opportunity to maybe even cherry pick the games that he plays in the future. Everyone knows he's in that best three bowlers in Australia, or best four adding Nathan Lyon, but you need him on the park… [So, Australia might have to consider] picking the best conditions for Josh Hazlewood to have an impact and rotate the rest around that."

Australia’s premier pace trio—Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Pat Cummins—featured in all the Tests last summer against Pakistan, the West Indies, and New Zealand. While the selectors have generally avoided rotation solely for workload management, they did rest Hazlewood for the Headingley Test during the 2023 Ashes.