Australia's experienced campaigner Josh Hazlewood was picked ahead of Scott Boland in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final against South Africa. As Australia lost the final by five wickets and Hazlewood could manage just one wicket each in both innings, former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson posed a few tough questions. Johnson said that Hazlewood's participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 playoffs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of WTC final at Lord's, London, raised a few eyebrows. More than a week after the defeat, Hazlewood has responded to Johnson's criticism around 'club over country'.
"We’ve seen concerns about Hazlewood’s fitness in recent years, and his decision to prioritise returning to the delayed Indian Premier League over his national team preparations raised eyebrows," Johnson wrote in his column for Western Australian.
Hazlewood said that he is not aware of Johnson's comments. Days ahead of the first Test against West Indies, Hazlewood revealed that he did not get to bowl during the IPL suspension and felt India is the best place to bowl.
“I haven’t seen any of that, to be honest,” Hazlewood told Sydney Morning Herald ahead of the series opener.
“We know what’s going on inside our rooms. It seemed far and away the best place to get ready for any type of cricket that was coming up. The weather was definitely a factor as well. Just getting over there and playing intense competition like that, it’s hard to replicate in training.
“Sydney, it was raining and I had literally nowhere to bowl. I got to Brisbane for three or four days and it was very wet. We were lucky to get on. I just thought the best place to bowl was India. We were still in the competition, we were going to play semis, and I was going to be there for 10 days. I think it was comfortably the best option.”
When Hazlewood last toured West Indies for red-ball series
The last time Australia played a Test series on West Indies soil was in 2015. A decade ago, he was fairly new to the Australian Test team. From two Tests, he claimed 12 wickets at an average of 8.83, including a fifer in Kingston.