Josh Hazlewood, a fast bowler for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), expressed his happiness at being back in action after missing a few months due to injury and said that his remarkable recovery represented progress towards a greater objective.
During a Test match in Sydney in January, Hazelwood suffered an Achilles injury and hasn't played in any format of the game since.
The Australian was originally chosen for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, but halfway through the series he had to return home to complete his recovery from an Achilles injury.
For Monday's game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the pacer returned to the bowling crease for his IPL team, RCB. Despite only scoring 126/9, he bowled three superb overs to help the visitors win by 18 runs.
Hazlewood grabbed 2/15 while bowling during the power play and again at the end as LSG was dismissed for 108, falling 18 runs short of the mark.
“The physical state is fine. A hit out in the centre was welcome. Playing in a game as opposed to practising is simply completely different. The Achilles feels OK right now. In a post-game press conference, Hazlewood said, “Obviously, I only bowled three overs and fielded the 20, so tonight was a little stepping stone further down the track.
Hazlewood said that Mohammed Siraj's first wicket helped to shift the momentum in their favour, which was later further tapped into by the other bowlers, and that the pitch's characteristics kept RCB in the match.
“In Siraj's first over, it began. I believe one run and a wicket were promised. We kind of hopped on the back of it since it was such a tremendous start. It was a difficult wicket to bat on, so I believe at halftime we knew we were still in the game.
“We understood that in order to win the game, we had to bowl them out. They would have scored 130 runs if they used seven or eight hitters to bat the 20 overs. The focus was on attacking and getting wickets. Every bowler put out a fantastic collective effort, the Australian added.
Siraj returned Kyle Mayers for a duck in the opening over to defend the low score. LSG had a collapse and were bowled out for 108 as they were unable to bounce back from the early setback.
