‘There’s no better place than the IPL…’: Josh Hazelwood reflects on IPL experience ahead of WTC Final

 Josh Hazlewood’s return to Royal Challengers Bengaluru after an injury break is a blessing for the franchise and good preparation for the Australian pacer, who says the intensity he is building up here will come in handy during the World Test Championship final against South Africa next month.

Having recovered from a shoulder injury, Hazlewood played in the IPL after a month but showed no signs of rust, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru reach their first final since 2016 with an eight-wicket win over Punjab Kings. The performance was also a tick mark for his preparations ahead of the World Test Championship final against South Africa beginning at Lord’s on June 11.

“I’ve got to be bowling, you know wherever I am in the world, I’ve got to be bowling getting ready for that game (WTC final) anyway. There’s no better place than I think out in the middle, obviously you’ve got to bowl more, more hours of training from time to time to build up for a Test, but to get that intensity right up, there’s no better place than the IPL. said Hazlewood after featuring in his first IPL game since April 27.

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Hazlewood, who predominantly gets movement off the pitch, is known for his relentless spells in Test cricket but over time has also taken his T20 game to the next level. His hard lengths are difficult to put away and when the pitch is an absolute belter, he resorts to bowling wide yorkers.

On Thursday night, the pitch here allowed him to bowl Test match lengths and he ended up with match-turning figures in his 3.1 overs. His victims included the in-form Shreyas Iyer and Josh Inglis, breaking the back of a self-destructing Punjab Kings.

“I don’t bowl too much differently in Test match cricket than tonight,” said the Australian pacer.

His value at RCB can’t be overstated as despite playing only 11 games due to injury, he remains the leading wicket-taker for his franchise with 21 scalps at an average of 15.80. Take him out of the attack and RCB attack looks vulnerable. Talking more about his recovery from the shoulder injury.

Hazlewood said, “(I have) worked really hard the last few weeks on the shoulders to get back and got some good overs into it the last sort of 10 days, and yeah it is feeling good to be back. So, I was happy with tonight, the wicket helped obviously didn’t it? Not having to bowl fast yorkers or anything like that. So yeah it is feeling good to be back.” Hazelwood added