Pat Cummins is still in quarantine days out from Australia’s T20 World Cup opener, so another member of the fast bowling cartel looms as the key.
Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has declared he’s “more confident” than ever in T20 cricket ahead of the World Cup where he looms as a key man after his leading role in Chennai’s Indian Premier League championship win.
Hazlewood linked up with the Australian squad in the United Arab Emirates as the only fast bowler with any significant match practice in months after taking 11 wickets in nine matches for the Super Kings, including two in last week’s final, after the IPL resumed last month.
The 30-year-old Test star has seen limited T20 action for Australia in recent years, with just 17 internationals across eight years since his first way back in 2013.
But after five months of inactivity, following the conclusions of last summer’s Test series, Hazlewood joined Mitchell Starc in leading the attack on white-ball tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh in July and August.
While Starc returned home, and with Pat Cummins also stuck in lockdown in NSW, Hazlewood continued on to the IPL, getting used to the searing heat Australia will face in three daytime World Cup games and honing his T20 skills.
“That was my thinking going in, the conditions here, it’s quite hot, just getting a run of games in T20 cricket leading into the World Cup, it’s been perfect,” Hazlewood said after joining the Australian squad.
“ (Chennai) was a very experienced team and a great one to be around in T20, which I haven’t played a lot of, to learn a lot on the run. It was pretty exciting to win the final.”
Cummins, who hasn’t played since the IPL was abandoned in April, is yet to complete his quarantine having arrived late in the UAE after the birth of his first child.
At best he would be available for Australia’s second warm-up game, against India on October 20, ahead of the opening game against South Africa on October 23.
That could mean Hazlewood and Starc lead the Australian attack, and armed with growing confidence, Hazlewood said he was confident about what he could bring to the table after a sustained run of matches.
“Every game is different, even in the T20 format, and you learn something every time,” he said.
“It’s just getting that continuity of games and I feel pretty confident in my role now, whether it’s for Chennai or Australia, bowl a couple up front, then a couple at the end.
“I’m feeling more confident every situation I am in. You can never dominate T20 cricket as a bowler, But I’m feeling good about my game.”
Australia has skipped to seventh in the T20 rankings after eight losses in 10 games against the Windies and Bangladesh.
But nearly 80 per cent of the squad that went on those tours has been replaced for the World Cup with arguably the best possible assembly of players.
That’s given Hazlewood greater hope for Australia’s chances of winning a first T20 World Cup.
“We haven’t had the same team on-board for two years, different guys resting here are there,” Hazlewood said.
“To have this team together for a World Cup, the ranking says one thing, but when you look around the group, that says another.”
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