Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson has rated Josh Hazlewood as the team’s best T20 fast bowler. Hazlewood has improved a lot in the shortest format of the game in the last couple of years and the results are palpable.
The right-arm fast bowler also had an impressive Tata IPL 2022 while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The experienced seamer scalped 20 wickets in 12 matches for RCB at a fine average of 18.85 and an economy rate of 8.10.
Ergo, he played a key role in taking RCB to the playoff stages and did a fine job for the Faf du Plessis-led team.
Watson told Isa Guha on The ICC Review: “It has been amazing to see Josh Hazlewood’s evolution as a T20 bowler. I always thought he was just a Test and one-day bowler because he didn’t have that many defensive options in T20 cricket, but he has developed tremendously over the past couple of years.”
Furthermore, Hazlewood had done a fine job while playing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021. Hazlewood had snared 11 wickets in nine matches and had played an instrumental role in taking CSK to glory.
Watson believes Hazlewood’s stint with CSK before the T20 World Cup played a huge role in his success in the marquee event. The lanky fast bowler took 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 15.91 for Australia in the T20I showpiece.
“It was a huge opportunity for him to play for CSK (Chennai Super Kings) and they gave him a really good run and let him find his feet in that previous IPL heading into the T20 World Cup. And right now he is Australia’s best T20 fast bowler, there is no question.”
Watson added that Hazlewood is going to play a key role in Australia’s defense of the T20 World Cup.
“Josh shows that you don’t really have to be able to do something truly different to be a really good T20 bowler. If you are great at really executing your yorkers, your change of pace, but also then your stock ball is at the top of the stumps at good pace, then you can be very effective.
“He has shown that he has been one of the world’s best over the last couple of years…he is going to be very important for Australia’s defence of the T20 World Cup.”
Australia will take on Sri Lanka in the first T20I at Colombo on Tuesday.
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