Hazlewood sharing his experience of CSK helped Australia’s bowling group: Aaron Finch

Australia skipper Aaron Finch said that Josh Hazlewood’s experience of playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL helped the Aussie bowlers to a large extent. Hazlewood was Australia’s standout pacer in the T20 World Cup 2021 above the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. The right-arm speedster picked up 11 wickets from seven matches at an excellent economy rate of 7.29.

Hazlewood had played for CSK in the UAE and got accustomed to the playing conditions in the UAE before the multi-nation tournament got underway. For MS Dhoni’s Super Kings, Hazlewood picked up 11 wickets from nine matches. Finch said that the pacer hit the back-of-a-length and made it tough for the batters to get him away.

In the post-match presser after Australia’s win over New Zealand in the final on Sunday, Finch said that a strong showing in the IPL helped Hazlewood get into the eleven above Kane Richardson.

Aaron Finch lauds Hazlewood for delivering the goods

“He (Hazlewood) was really important to our bowling group. To be able to share his experience at CSK was really important – the lengths to bowl, particularly at the end of the tournament, where the wickets start to get a little bit more worn and hard lengths, which is Josh’s speciality, was tough to hit. And it was really important that he passed on that information,” Finch said, Sportskeeda reported.

“Honestly, his performances in the IPL probably forced his way into the starting XI over Kane Richardson, who is a wonderful T20 bowler and someone who has been so important for us. But yeah, that was a tough call,” he stated.

Before the World Cup, the Aussies looked in a bit of a hole. They lost bilateral series at the hands of Bangladesh and West Indies. In fact, they could win only two out of 10 games on the tours. Finch said that staying away from bio-bubbles for a brief while helped the Aussies prepare well for the World Cup.

“Yeah, I think so. The guys’ preparation for the tournament were at different stages. Some were at the IPL; some were playing for state teams; some were rehabbing and coming off injuries. I think that played a part as well,” Finch added.