If Josh Hazlewood was roused from his sleep at nighttime and handed a cricket ball, he would seemingly land it on a good size on the first time of asking. Such is the 34-year-old’s metronomic accuracy, a trait that has made him a basic a part of Australia’s tempo assault in Tests for the final decade.
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But what’s a advantage within the longest format will be a bane within the T20 model. It gave the impression to be the case for Hazlewood within the first half of his profession, along with his predictable lengths permitting batters to line him up and play the large photographs. His T20I appearances for Australia have been confined to only seven earlier than 2020.
It is a tribute to Hazlewood’s ability and resolve, then, that he has adjusted to the calls for of the shortest format in recent times. That he may achieve this first turned obvious in 2021, when he took 11 scalps in 9 matches for title-winning Chennai Super Kings in his second IPL. He went on to be an integral member of the Australian crew that received the 2021 T20 World Cup.
This 12 months, he has been the chief of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s assault, claiming 21 wickets in his crew’s exhilarating run to the ultimate.
He performed a key function in effecting Punjab Kings’ implosion with the bat on Thursday with figures of three.1-0-21-3.
Hazlewood attributed his enchancment in T20s to buying higher experience. “Yeah, just the opportunity and experience of playing the format more often, obviously mostly international but IPL as well, I think I have really improved,” Hazlewood informed the media. “You just learn every year and you sort of just put it into your arsenal and remember that the next time. You can train all you want, but playing T20 cricket is probably the main thing that has made me improve as a T20 bowler. It is purely learning from the experiences.”
Published – May 30, 2025 10:45 am IST
