'One big day': Hazlewood confident in Test prep

Josh Hazlewood says he needs just "one big day" of red-ball bowling to get himself primed for the Vodafone Test series against India but is open to playing a tour game at the expense of representing Australia in T20I cricket.

The crammed international schedule and upcoming KFC BBL means Hazlewood and Australia's three-format IPL players will not have a Marsh Sheffield Shield match under their belts before the first Test in Adelaide from December 17.

But there is a three-day tour match against India A from December 6-8 at Drummoyne Oval which clashes with the final two T20 internationals at the SCG.

That match could provide Hazlewood, who is a first-choice Test bowler but not an automatic selection in the T20I side, valuable match practice ahead of the blockbuster four-Test campaign against India.

However, the 29-year-old says a long, hard practice session where he bowls up to 20 overs would be enough to be ready for Virat Kohli's team.

"You always want to be available to play for Australia whenever that is but if it comes at the expense of (preparing for) a Test series then you've got to weigh up those options," Hazlewood said on The Unplayable Podcast.

"Cricket is cricket and if you're playing one-day cricket, T20 cricket, at least the intensity is there and it's about having those big (training) days.

"It's a challenge, but we'll see what happens."

In the same boat as Hazlewood are Pat Cummins, Steve Smith and David Warner, who have been selected in the limited-overs squad to take on India, but are still in the UAE for the Indian Premier League and are expected to be named in Australia's Test squad.

Those players are set to travel from the UAE after the IPL final on November 10, quarantine for two weeks in Sydney upon arrival, join the limited-overs squad on the day of the first match (November 27), then head straight to Adelaide as part of the Test squad for the day-night, pink-ball contest.

National selector Trevor Hohns said the selectors would consider picking Test players for the tour matches, but it is unlikely that those involved in the limited-overs series would be involved.

If that is the case and Hazlewood does not get a game under his belt, he says he knows what he needs to do to get his mind and body right for Test cricket.

"I could probably get away with one big day if that makes sense, where I bowl the best part of 18 or 20 overs in a day and field the whole day," he said.

"Once you do that, you're pretty close.

"Three one-dayers in a week is also a very good marker to see where you're at – you're bowling 30 overs at international intensity, you're fielding 150 overs, you've got a bit of travel in there as well.

"It's pretty close to a Test match but the back-to-back days bowling and taking those 20 wickets is a different story.

"Certainly, I would love to get some red ball (cricket) in at some stage whether that's having big days at training or in that tour match, so we'll see how it pans out."

Having switched between formats regularly since making his Test debut against India in 2014, Hazlewood says patience is the key when moving from one-day to five-day cricket.

"Coming from a lot of white-ball cricket (where) you're probably looking for wickets," he said. "You're bowling more of your change-ups, yorkers, (and) you're not bowling more than 10 overs so you're trying to make an impact.

"Once you get that red or pink ball in your hand then patience is a big one for me and it's about building pressure.

"It's playing the long game and not getting too impatient with the way I'm bowling, and that's how my wickets come about – through patience.

"Apart from that it's business as usual, taking care of things at my end with my action and run-up, and making sure everything is in a really good place and the other end will take care of itself."

Hazlewood will spend the next week in the UAE waiting for the chartered flight back home which will carry both the Indian and Australian players and support staff.

The right-armer will continue to train to prepare for the first Dettol ODI Series at the SCG with his Australian teammates who are not featuring in the IPL playoffs.

But having been playing and practicing in a bio-secure bubble since late August, the next week is likely to be light on the cricket front.

"I've got a little bit of bowling to do to keep the workloads up but I think it will be a good week to get away from cricket as much as we can, spend some time by the pool chatting and maybe sneak in a few beers here and there," he added.

India Tour of Australia 2020-21

Australia ODI & T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy

Australia Test squad: TBA

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (w), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

Dettol ODI Series v India

First ODI: November 27, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Second ODI: November 29, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

Dettol T20 INTL Series v India

First T20: December 4, Manuka Oval, 7.10pm AEDT

Second T20: December 6, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT

Third T20: December 8, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT

Tour matches

Australia A v India A, December 6-8, Drummoyne Oval

Australia A v Indians, December 11-13, SCG (day-night)

Vodafone Test Series v India

First Test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT

*The matches and travel remain subject to any relevant government restrictions or requirements.