Australia is yet to win a Test series against India since they last lifted the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) during the 2014-15 season at home. Their premier and veteran fast bowler, Josh Hazlewood, is keen to end the drought when they meet the Rohit Sharma-led side towards the end of the year for five games.
Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India tasted their maiden red-ball series victory in Australia during the 2018-19 season before repeating the same feat during the 2020-21 season under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane.
On the last game of the series at the Gabba in Brisbane, several notable players of the visitors were injured, as they went into the game, during an inexperienced side, and still were able to get the better of the home side. Josh Hazlewood is prepared to take revenge back.
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“There are quite a few players who have never beaten India in a Test series. It’s quite astounding to say that. That’s one we need to tick off, definitely, in particular at home – we should pretty much win every series here at home.” The pacer expressed during his conversation on ESPNcricinfo.
“I didn’t get to play the last one”- Josh Hazlewood
Most of the fans, especially in India, believe that the home side lost the last Test at the Gabba in Brisbane to ‘India B’, as most of the players were injured after the third Sydney game. In the bowling department mainly, they didn’t have the services of any of Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, or Ravindra Jadeja.
But, Josh Hazlewood isn’t ready to accept that 11 players as the ‘B-side’, as he shaded time on the depth of Indian cricket in all three formats.
“That last series We obviously bowled them out for 36 in Adelaide and we thought here we go, (we are) back at home (and) confident on these grounds.” The 33-year-old, Josh Hazlewood, touched on the point. “People say we played India B in that last Test, but they can sometimes be stronger than the best team. They’ve got unbelievable depth in all formats, and we are starting to see that now.”
The fast bowler picked up a total of 30 wickets during the last two BGT series at home, on both of which occasions, they lost with a 2-1 margin. Even though they won the second cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC), Josh Hazlewood couldn’t play the final in London because of injury, and that has motivated him to qualify for another final of the event.
“It’s always in the background, We have the table up [to see] where we are sitting and what we need to tick off,” he said. “For me, it’s a big one because I didn’t get to play the last one in England so that’s a burning one for me.” The Tamworth-born opened up.
Veteran off-spinner of the side, Nathan Lyon, has pointed out their biggest challenge from the Indian team in the upcoming summer of 2024-25.
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“I haven’t come across him (Yashasvi Jaiswal) yet, but that will be a massive challenge for all of us bowlers. The way he played against England, I watched that quite closely and thought that was quite amazing. I had some really good chats with Tom Hartley about different ways he went about it to different guys, which I found quite interesting.” The NSW spinner elaborated during the conversation with ESPNcricinfo.
The left-handed opening batter smashed 712 runs in the five-match Test series at home at the start of 2024 against England, with the help of two double centuries and three half-centuries.
