The precision-personified Josh Hazlewood has been the standout Australian performer of this IPL season. The ‘Hazlegod’ nickname, conferred on by RCB followers, feels earned.
In stark distinction, Glenn Maxwell has been drastically underwhelming contemplating his T20 type earlier than the IPL; Jake Fraser-McGurk has regressed from explosive to ineffective; Travis Head, although he’s nonetheless contributing, hasn’t dominated tempo like final season and is clearly beneath his blistering 2024 requirements.
From the finest to the worst, right here’s a efficiency breakdown of the regularly-featured key Australian gamers in this IPL season.
Josh Hazlewood (18 wkts): At the MRF Pace Foundation floor right here in March, Glenn McGrath, requested to select pacers he thought would do effectively this season, picked Josh Hazlewood – apart from, in fact, Jasprit Bumrah (no-brainer) – for his or her “best control.”
McGrath added: “You don’t have to bowl a completely different ball every ball, but as long as you have that execution…”
Josh Hazlewood celebrates
| Photo Credit:
MURALI KUMAR Okay
How effectively has Hazlewood executed for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru this season! To start with, a honed ability and a bodily attribute have helped him shine. Nothing fancy.
Honed ability: Consistently bowling in the channel outdoors off.
Physical attribute: 1.96 m tall = excessive launch level = steep bounce.
In the previous 12 months (till the first week of April), virtually half of Hazlewood’s bowling (45 per cent) throughout codecs has been in the channel outdoors off! Only Dushmantha Chameera betters him amongst all the seamers to have bowled at the least 250 balls in that point.
RCB’s tempo assault had the finest dismissal fee with brief balls (7.5 balls per dismissal) till its reverse fixture versus Rajasthan Royals in Bengaluru. Hazlewood has considerably contributed to it. For occasion, his persistence with brief size, regardless of getting hammered, fetched him Yashasvi Jaiswal’s wicket in that match. And all his three wickets in opposition to Chennai Super Kings in Chennai got here off bouncers.
He’s been economical too. In the PowerPlay, he’s picked up seven wickets at an economic system of seven.22, the second-best amongst those that’ve picked up at the least 5 wickets and amongst those that’ve bowled at the least 100 balls in that part.
At the Death (final 4 overs), he’s picked up six wickets at an economic system of 9.04, the second-best amongst those that’ve picked up at the least 5 wickets in that part. He has bowled the second-most dot balls at the Death (26), and was the first to bowl 100 dot balls (103) total. Where he’s been distinctive in that part is that he’s bowled 72 per cent of his deliveries in the good, short-of-good, and brief lengths till that RR fixture at house. He’s hit the short-of-good size the most and has bowled solely 10 per cent of yorkers.
That mentioned, his execution of yorkers can also be exceptional. For occasion, he nailed seven yorkers in his two overs at the Death in opposition to Punjab Kings in Mullanpur.
Where he’s been a tad unfortunate is that at one level, 23 per cent of the boundaries he’d conceded had come off false photographs, the highest such share for any bowler. But even that solely provides to his brilliance this season.
He’s picked up six wickets in his opening overs, the most for any bowler, that now a wicket is anticipated of him every time he begins his spell!
Tim David: Hazlewood’s teammate, slotted into the finisher position, now owns it. Until the PBKS match in Mullanpur, the place he got here in early and needed to bide his time with wickets falling round him, he was putting at 179 in his first ten deliveries of an innings this season. That’s a drastic enchancment from his previous two seasons – 144 in 2023, 137 in 2024.
His strike fee of 219.29 with a median of 62.50 at the Death this season is elite, to say the least. While he has the finest strike fee amongst those that’ve confronted at the least 50 balls at the Death, he’s additionally hit the most sixes (11) in that part.
Mitchell Marsh: With 378 runs at 155.55, Marsh has had a high-quality season. His power-hitting as an opener has helped Lucknow Super Giants get to substantial scores in the PowerPlay.
Perhaps, counting on his muscle energy, he hasn’t proven any inclination to focus on the shorter facet, regardless of a major disparity in the boundary sizes. In the first 5 matches, he’d hit 48 per cent of his runs in direction of the longer facet and solely 23 per cent on the shorter facet. The relaxation had come straight.
Lucknow Super Giants’ Mitchell Marsh
| Photo Credit:
SANDEEP SAXENA
He’s adept at taking down tempo, and so batting in the PowerPlay performed to his energy. He’s struck at 157.24 in the PowerPlay and tempo in common at 170.06. He’s hit the fourth-most sixes (14) in the PowerPlay after Yashasvi Jaiswal (19), Priyansh Arya (16), and Ajinkya Rahane (15).
Mitchell Starc: While his compatriot Hazlewood prefers the short-of-good size at the Death, Starc is an professional in bowling yorkers. He can execute not solely yorkers but in addition reverse-swinging yorkers. With the saliva ban lifted this season, information reveals that the pacers are getting a higher common diploma of swing at the Death than final season. Pronounced reverse swing could possibly be a motive why Starc had already bowled double the variety of yorkers (10) at the Death in the first 5 matches than he had in the first 5 matches final season (5). And he’s bowled them at a greater economic system of six than final season’s 13.2.
Against RR at house, when he put up a masterclass in bowling tailing yorkers throughout three overs, together with the Super Over, he was getting round 1.2 and 1.8 levels of swing in his final two overs and his Super Over. He’s picked up half (7) of his whole wickets (14) at a superb economic system of 9.50 at the Death.
While he has the worst PowerPlay economic system (11.30) amongst those that have bowled at the least 100 balls in that part and an total economic system of 10.23, Starc’s USP is that he’s a clutch participant who can get essential wickets and seize the essential moments. Sometimes, even his figures might not replicate that – like his one for 36 (in 4 overs) in his Player-of-the-Match efficiency versus RR.
Pat Cummins: Cummins’ finest bowling efficiency of the season got here in SRH’s final, rain-hit match versus Delhi Capitals in Hyderabad. Consequently, Sunrisers Hyderabad put up its finest bowling efficiency of the season earlier than it rained and the factors had been cut up.
Cummins had bowled solely 16 overs in the PowerPlay in 10 innings earlier than that match, a rounded common of 10 balls per match. He had picked up 4 wickets at an economic system of 9.81. He’d opened the bowling solely as soon as.
So, in that must-win match in opposition to DC, he not solely selected to steer from the entrance by opening the bowling, but in addition picked up a wicket every in three overs at a miserly economic system of 4 in the PowerPlay. It helped him grow to be the bowler with the third-most wickets in the PowerPlay. His total PowerPlay economic system got here down to eight.89 after that match. His total economic system of 4.75 in that match is his finest for SRH and his third-best in the IPL.
But the place he’s actually struggled this season is at the Death. His economic system of 13.20, in comparison with final season’s 11.60, is the fourth-worst amongst those that’ve bowled at the least 30 balls at the Death.
Travis Head: Head hasn’t had a poor season, although it might appear so in contrast with final season. He’s nonetheless putting at 156.11, however that’s a giant drop from final season’s 191.55.
A comparability of his PowerPlay strike charges is a research in distinction, for it’s a middling 155.11 to final season’s 208.29! While there isn’t a giant distinction in his strike charges versus spin in 2024 and 2025, his strike fee in opposition to tempo has dropped to 155.37 from final season’s 203.94. Though he has hit two fifties and acquired a number of good begins, at instances he appears to strive too laborious to play his photographs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk: From having been the opener with the finest strike fee (234.04) final season to putting at simply 105.76, it’s been fairly a downfall for Fraser-McGurk this season. Of his 55 runs this season, 38 have come in one innings!
He’s survived past the PowerPlay in solely six of his 30 T20 innings since the conclusion of final IPL season. He appears a one-dimensional blind-hitter and desires a technique to his insanity.
Glenn Maxwell: Maxwell’s had a horrible season, to say the least. He’s hit 48 runs, putting at fewer than a run a ball (97.95). He’s had 12 single-digit scores in his final 15 IPL innings.
But the attention-grabbing half is that he’d scored 674 runs in 22 T20 video games, putting at 168.9, between the finish of the final IPL season and the begin of this season.
Perhaps, very similar to Stephen Fleming and his CSK did, Maxwell too has a little bit of “soul-searching” to do.
Marcus Stoinis: He’s batted solely twice at the Death this season, and that’s the place he’s added worth to PBKS. Forty-nine of the whole 82 runs he’s scored this season have come at the Death at a mammoth strike fee of 306.25, the fourth-best and the finest amongst those that have confronted at the least 15 balls in that part. It consists of 4 consecutive sixes in the twentieth over off Mohammed Shami in opposition to SRH in Hyderabad.
Josh Inglis: Inglis hasn’t had a exceptional season apart from a sprightly cameo (30, 14b, 1×4, 4×6) inside the PowerPlay in opposition to LSG at Dharamshala.
Published – May 13, 2025 12:13 am IST
