Follow UsJosh Hazlewood was in India a few days ago, hugging an all teared up Virat Kohli and celebrating the victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
However, he’s now in England and gearing up to win his first World Test Championship (WTC) Final match after missing out on Australia’s win in the last final played against India in 2023. Australians fans and team would be happy that the tall pacer is feeling his best ahead of the high-profile final against the Proteas that starts from Wednesday, June 11.
“I was obviously quite close last time [in 2023]," Hazlewood said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
"I just had more of an interrupted IPL leading into that, and then had a few little issues going on, so I wasn't quite up to scratch, but I feel in a much better place this time around.
"And I think in any format, my numbers over the last two years have been pretty good, so I've got a lot to fall back on in terms of skill-wise. I still feel like I'm bowling probably the best over my career, and it's just a matter of the body holding up, which it has been in the last few months."
Hazlewood further added on his workload leading up to the final and said that he has got a lot of overs under his belt at the IPL, which will hold his body in good stead during the Test match.
“I ticked over some good overs just before the final in Ahmedabad, in different weather than this," he said.
“It was quite a tough session. And then every time you play a game in the IPL, you're probably going to get almost seven or eight overs in if you really want to…in and around with warm-ups. I had a number of times where I bowled back-to-back days, again at high intensity, with the game being one of those."
However, the Aussie paceman understands that the lengths he’ll be targeting in England would be much different from the ones he was bowling in the IPL.
"In the IPL games, I was probably hitting around that seven-to nine-meters in the powerplay, and not really threatening the stumps as much as you want to in Test cricket, in particular here in England," he added.
“So, it'll just be about pushing that length and touch fuller and still getting that zip through the keeper."