Josh Hazlewood Points Out Why Australia Lost the Test Series To India The Last Time

Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood was part of the team when India beat them at home in 2018-19 to capture their first Test series down under. Australia’s esteemed bowling attack – comprising of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon could not prevent India from running away with the series, mainly because the hosts could not put up runs on the board. But according to Josh Hazlewood, that’s not why they lost the series.

Virat Kohli’s men created history by becoming not only the first Indian team but also the first Asian side to win a Test series in Australia. The visitors’ number three batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, was one of the significant reasons behind their victory, grinding down the home side’s top-notch bowling attack to record 521 runs at more than 70 with three centuries. The effort earned him the man of the match performance.

Josh Hazlewood opined that bowlers could not get enough rest in between the innings, mainly because Cheteshwar Pujara faced plenty of balls. The 28-year old seamer believes that it should be the goal for batsmen in a long series – not only to keep the runs coming but also have the opposition in the field for as long as possible.

“I think what you saw last time (2018-19 series) was the bowlers not getting enough rest between innings. Pujara faced a lot of balls and in a long series, that’s the batman’s goal, not only to score runs in that Test, but also keep the frontline attack of the opposition out on the field for as long as possible,” Hazlewood said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

We sort of rested in between before getting into the Sydney Test: Josh Hazlewood

Josh Hazlewood further said that keeping the opposition for as long in the field will help their side later in the series. The New South Wales seamer hopes to turn the tables on India this time around, vouching for Australia’s batsmen to keep the Indians for as long as possible on the field.

“You get the benefits of that later in the series which is exactly what happened last time around. We spent a lot of time in the field in Melbourne. We sort of rested in between before getting into the Sydney Test. Hopefully, we can spring that around this time and keep the Indian bowlers out on the field for as long as possible and reap those benefits later in the series,” he added.

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