'When You Get Him Out, You've Earned it': Hazlewood Names India Batter Whom Australians 'Love to Hate'

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL 2023 preparations suffered a huge jolt after it was learnt that Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood will not be able to take part in the initial stages of the tournament. Hazlewood, who is currently recovering from Achilles tendonitis, featured in a podcast where he spoke about his most challenging assignments as a fast bowler.

Hazlewood was asked about Cheteshwar Pujara, widely regarded as one of the most dogged Test batters of this generation.

Also Read: RCB Team Preview IPL 2023

“Pujara’s [Cheteshwar] name comes to mind. He loves batting. He hates getting out. It is a bigger thrill for the bowlers I think when you do end up getting his wicket. It means you have earned it and you have put in a lot of hard work…. He is someone we have had great tussles against over the years and in particular, probably in Australia. He is one that Australians probably love to hate,” Josh Hazlewood said.

The official handle of Royal Challengers Bangalore also shared a clip on social media. “’When you do get him out, you’ve earned it!’ Josh Hazlewood talks about working hard to earn a wicket, & a batter Australians hate to bowl to,” the caption read.

In spite of the fact that Hazelwood finds Pujara’s wicket tougher to castle than most others, the speedster has managed to get the Indian batter out five times on Australian soil in the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. In India, Hazlewood managed to get Pujara out just once during this period.

Josh Hazlewood had to return to Australia midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after missing the first two Tests. In international cricket, Hazlewood had last played in a competitive match against South Africa in January during the third Test.

In IPL, Josh Hazlewood has played 24 matches. With an economy rate of 8.02, the right-arm fast bowler has till now claimed 32 wickets in the IPL. His last IPL game was against Rajasthan Royals during the second IPL 2022 Qualifier.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will start their IPL 2023 journey with a match against five-time champions Mumbai Indians on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Bangalore, under the leadership of Faf du Plessis, had finished their IPL 2022 journey at the playoff stage. Bangalore’s dream run in IPL 2022 came to an end at the hands of Rajasthan Royals.

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