Bengaluru, Apr 19: Josh Hazlewood smiled wistfully as he ran past a dumbstruck Punjab Kings skipper Shreyas Iyer after dismissing him with a climbing delivery in the channel just outside the off-stump. The moment had two layers of significance to it.
It was the third time Hazlewood had the number of Shreyas in four IPL innings, conceding just eight runs.
So, it was a personal victory for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer. But more than stamping the authority over a familiar rival, it signalled the Australian’s ability to learn from past mistakes.
His previous two spells at the Chinnaswamy Stadium were ordinary — 1/43 against Gujarat Titans and 0/40 against Delhi Capitals where Jos Buttler and KL Rahul took him to cleaners despite the track here offering more assistance to the bowlers.
For a master metronome like Hazlewood, those punishments would have hurt his pride immensely.
But he changed the script on his third visit to the venue — 3/14 off three overs but it was a travesty that such an excellent effort ended up in a losing cause.
However, the spell was an underliner of Hazlewood’s efficiency across the formats and it’s based on relentlessness rather than magic. If you have a keen eye, then shades of Australian legend Glenn McGrath is unmistakable.
Like the ‘Pigeon’, Hazlewood too is a master of the 6-metre length and it’s not surprising that he has close to 60 dot balls in this edition of the IPL alone.
It’s an incredible stat as the 34-year-old bowls at least 12 balls in the Power Plays, and his dot ball percentage during that phase is approximately 73 per cent.
“I find if you really hit the wicket hard on that six to eight metres, it’s quite tough to bat. I think it’s just about trying to read the play, read the batter,” Hazlewood said in the post-match press conference.
“I think sometimes you get that sense that they’re either going to come at you or sit deep and you can just make subtle changes of that length and can make a big impact,” the Aussie detailed his modus operandi.
Along with his ability to adapt, the high release point makes Hazlewood a tricky customer to deal with on any kind of surface, as it allows him to find that disconcerting extra bounce.
Shreyas will vouch for that. The ball pitched slightly behind the good length but it bounced above the batter’s midriff, robbing him of space to execute the cut/slash past the point fielder.
All the PBKS skipper could manage was a tame edge for Jitesh Sharma behind the stumps and now Hazlewood shares the Purple Cap with Chennai Super Kings’ spinner Noor Ahmad with 12 wickets.
“Yeah, it’s just, I think, trying to sense the batter and what mindset he’s had and just those subtle changes when required. Yeah, potentially, I think it just could have been that balance of how hard to go,” he noted.
Hazlewood has also benefited from the presence of the vastly experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar at the other end, and the two have been the acoustic hearts of RCB new ball attack.
They operate rather similarly too — troubling batters with hard-to-notice changes in line and length.
Hazlewood accepted that.
“I think to bowl with someone like Bhuvi, who’s been around for so long, so skilful at the start and at the end, it’s great to learn from as well.
“But I think just the variety, we’re all a little bit different, complement each other really well. So yeah, it’s exciting,” he said.
Perhaps, Hazlewood will be rewarded more suitably when RCB face Rajasthan Royals here on April 24. (PTI)
