IPL over Australia? Josh Hazlewood responds to Mitchell Johnson’s scathing criticism-OxBig News Network

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has responded to Mitchell Johnson’s scathing criticism. After Australia were hammered in the World Test Championship final by South Africa, former fast bowler Johnson had hit out against Hazlewood, accusing the pacer of prioritising the Indian Premier League over Test cricket.

Johnson’s comments came in the backdrop of Hazlewood playing the IPL 2025 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which ran till June 3, only a week and a half away from the WTC Final. Hazlewood only picked up 2 wickets in the WTC Final, attracting the wrath of the former fast bowler.

“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,” Johnson had written in The West Australian.

Hazlewood responded to Johnson’s comments in the run-up to the Test series against West Indies, explaining why the IPL was the best possible preparation that he could have asked for in the run-up to the summit clash in Test cricket.

“I haven’t seen any of that, to be honest,” Hazlewood told Sydney Morning Herald when asked about Johnson’s column.

“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. The weather was definitely a factor as well. Just getting over there and playing intense competition like that, it’s hard to replicate in training,” he added.

“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. I just thought the best place to bowl was India. We were still in the competition, we were going to play semis, and I was going to be there for 10 days. I think it was comfortably the best option,” the fast bowler concluded.