Josh Hazlewood was unplayable in the second T20 international between Australia and India in Melbourne, where he dished out one of the best spells of fast bowling in the format. Right from the very first ball, he caused major issues for the renowned Indian batting unit. He delivered a Player of the Match performance with a superlative figures of 3/14, bowling all four of his overs consecutively.
However, India will have a massive respite now. Why? Well, because Josh Hazlewood isn’t part of Australia’s remaining set of fixtures in the ongoing series. With the Ashes coming up later this year, Cricket Australia (CA) has kept Hazlewood’s workload management in check, and the tall pacer needs some time to get into the red-ball rhythm. Hence, Australia selected him just for the first two games, with Hazlewood finishing the series with three wickets at an average of 12.33.
Abhishek Sharma’s reaction on Hazlewood
Much like many fans, India’s opening sensation Abhishek Sharma was also unaware of the fact that Hazlewood won’t be available for the rest of the three T20Is. When asked about this in the post-match press conference in Melbourne, Abhishek’s reaction was quite heartening.
In a conversation where an Australian reporter informed Abhishek about Hazlewood’s unavailability, the Indian batter replied, “Oh, is he? (no more part of this series) I didn’t know that! But obviously, he’s good enough to play all formats. Still, I enjoyed the challenge because, as a batter, you have to face world-class bowlers — and that’s exactly what I was trying to do,” Abhishek said.
Australia T20I squad for rest of the series
Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (w), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Philippe, Glenn Maxwell, Mahli Beardman, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Sean Abbott (only for 3rd T20I), Matthew Short, Ben Dwarshuis (not in 3rd T20I), Adam Zampa
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