Australia’s seasoned fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has finally broken his silence following criticism from former teammate Mitchell Johnson, who questioned his decision to prioritise the Indian Premier League (IPL) over national team preparations ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final.
Hazlewood, who was recovering from a shoulder niggle, had returned to India to participate in the IPL 2025 playoffs for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), helping the franchise lift their maiden title. He finished the season with 22 wickets, but had a subdued outing in the WTC final against South Africa at Lord’s, taking just two wickets in a losing cause.
The underwhelming performance prompted a sharp critique from Johnson, who wrote in his column for The West Australian, “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.”
Now, speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald ahead of the upcoming Test series against the West Indies, Hazlewood has addressed the controversy and explained the reasoning behind his decision.
“I haven’t seen any of that, to be honest,” Hazlewood said, brushing aside the criticism. “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.”
Hazlewood cited practical reasons for returning to the IPL, particularly weather-related disruptions to training in Australia. “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,” he explained.
“I just thought the best place to bowl was India. We were still in the competition, we were going to play the semis, and I was going to be there for 10 days. I think it was comfortably the best option.”
According to Hazlewood, the intensity of the IPL also offered him competitive match fitness that could not have been replicated in rain-affected training sessions back home. “Just getting over there and playing intense competition like that, it’s hard to replicate in training,” he said.
Australia are set to take on the West Indies in the first Test of their home summer starting June 25 in Barbados. The team will be without the services of two key batters — Steve Smith, who suffered a finger injury while attempting a catch in the WTC final, and Marnus Labuschagne, who has been dropped after a prolonged lean patch with the bat.
