Josh Hazlewood on nicknamed ‘HazleGod': ‘Hopefully, it runs out of steam pretty quickly'
One of the key reasons behind Royal Challengers Bengaluru's maiden title was their bowling, led by Australia's Josh Hazlewood. Whenever Bengaluru was losing its grip in the game, it would turn to Hazlewood, and he created the much-needed breakthrough. From 12 games, he picked up 22 wickets at an economy of 8.77, bowling in the powerplay, middle overs, and final over of the innings.
For his efforts, he has earned himself a new nickname through the course of the tournament, 'HazleGod.'When asked about how he feels about the tag, the 34-year-old said, 'Yeah, hopefully, it runs out of steam pretty quickly. It's flattering, obviously, to hear it around the grounds in India, but I don't think it'll take off in Australia,' said Hazlewood who will play World Test Championship final on June 11 against South African.
Alongside Hazlewood in the conversation was his partner in crime, Mitchell Starc. 'Hopefully, it sticks because I don't think he likes it too much. He's had a fantastic few months, the big fella over in India, and he's come home with bags of cash. So I look forward to seeing him in action here at Lord's,' said Starc,
Off-spinner Nathan Lyon revealed during the training sessions of the WTC that Hazlewood did refer to himself as 'HazleGod.' 'HazleGod, he actually referred to himself as it the other day, which totally took me back by surprise,' said Lyon. 'Off the back of him winning the IPL, I think he's running with it,' he added.
RCB beat Punjab Kings by six runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Hazlewood picked up the crucial wicket of Priyansh Arya at the top to create the breakthrough for RCB after both the Punjab openers Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, were scoring at a brisk pace and eating away at the target quickly. Though Hazlewood has conceded 54 runs in the final, most of them came in the final over when the game was won.
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