Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has heaped praise on his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammates Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India, slated to be held at The Oval from June 7 to 11.
Talking about Kohli, Hazlewood lauded the star batter’s work ethic, revealing that he is the first one to turn up for training and leaves last.
“I think it’s probably how hard he works (that stands out). His fitness first of all – and then his skill work and batting and fielding in particular.
“He is always out there (training) first and leaves last … and the intensity he trains at all the time is at such a high level it drags everyone else along for the ride. That can leak on to the other players and improve them as well,” Hazlewood told the ICC.
Commenting on Siraj, who is expected to play a big part in the WTC final, Hazlwood said: “I was a bit late getting there (to RCB this year), but before then he was on fire.
“He is up there at the top of the wickets every time, and the economy rate was probably the thing as bowling at Chinnaswamy (RCB’s home ground) is impossible sometimes and he was going at six or six-and-a-half an over. His control was great and he is bowling well.”
Hazlewood, who is struggling with multiple injuries over the last six months, featured in three IPL 2023 games and bowled only nine overs for RCB this season. He flew back home early before their last league match after reporting side soreness.
However, the 32-year-old feels he is not far from bowling at full tilt as Australia gear up for the all-important WTC final.
“My fitness is pretty good and it is just a matter of ticking off every session from here until that date (June 7) basically.
“We will probably have anywhere from three to four more sessions – bat versus ball and then a couple of longer days in the nets as well or centre wicket down in London – so it is just ticking off those last few boxes and pulling up well from every session,” he said.
“It was pretty close (to full pace today). I came down for a little bowl yesterday just to loosen up and to get a bit more out of today’s session, so it is feeling good. It is always good to get the first one out of the way and when we get to London we will steam in,” he added.
Hazlewood explained why he sustained side soreness despite playing in the later stages of IPL 2023 after completely recovering from Achilles injury.
“In T20 you are bowling a lot of various different balls every over. A wide yorker, to a bouncer, to a slower ball and it probably got jammed up a little bit and a bit of scar tissue from previous injuries flared up.
“It calmed down pretty quickly, I had a week off but I didn’t quite get back to going 100 percent at IPL. But the last few bowls have been good and I have been building up nicely,” he said.
Josh Hazlewood is looking forward to the challenge of playing India at a neutral venue in Test cricket for the very first time.
“It is a strange stat that as I think I have just played a lot of cricket against them. What is going to be interesting is playing them here in England.
“It is going to be interesting for both teams how they go about it and how different it is to playing them in Australia or in India as typically you only play them there,” he said.
“That is the exciting thing about it and everyone is looking forward to next week,” he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
