Michael Clarke Unhappy With Josh Hazlewood’s Decision to Play IPL

Josh Hazlewood was a crucial part of RCB’s bowling line-up in the 2022 IPL. However, this year, the veteran fast bowler had to miss the first-half of the competition because of his injury. Nonetheless, Josh Hazlewood finally played his first match of the 2023 IPL versus Lucknow SuperGiants. But, Michael Clarke is not impressed with the bowler’s choice to play IPL ahead of the WTC Finals and the Ashes.

Earlier this year, Josh Hazlewood had also missed the Border-Gavaskar trophy because of the same injury. Australian captain Pat Cummins as well as England’s Sam Billings skipped this year’s IPL to avoid injuries ahead of the Ashes. Therefore, referring to the same, Michael Clarke acknowledged that Josh Hazlewood should have skipped the T20 league to keep himself safe for national duties.

I don’t know why he’s (Josh Hazlewood) over playing IPL: Michael Clarke

Australia will play against India in the World Test Championship finals followed by the Ashes. Josh Hazlewood is one of the team’s primary bowlers alongside Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Michael Clarke further spoke about Mumbai Indians’ Cameron Green and added that the all-rounder should rather be with the national team preparing for the upcoming red-ball cricket games rather than playing T20s.

Speaking about Josh Hazlewood, Clarke said, “I don’t know why he’s overplaying IPL. I don’t know why he’s not over here in Australia preparing to play Test match cricket. They’ll have people over there, in the nets he’ll be bowling more than what the IPL players are bowling, in preparation for Test match cricket. But I just don’t know if him bowling three overs, four overs right now is his best preparation for an Ashes series after the injuries he’s had and the amount of time he’s had out of Test cricket.”

In a low total RCB vs LSG game, Hazlewood’s performance was a match-winning one. Returning from a long injury break, Josh Hazlewood bowled 3 overs just conceding 15 runs picking up wickets of Ayush Badoni and Naveen-Ul-Haq. RCB won the game by 18 runs getting much-needed 2 points to keep them alive in the competition. They will next play against Delhi Capitals who are at the bottom of the table.