Former Australian captain Michael Clarke criticized fast bowler Josh Hazlewood for participating in the ongoing IPL 2023 tournament instead of preparing for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes series. Hazlewood, who has been out of action due to an Achilles injury since January, made a successful comeback for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He returned with impressive figures of 2/15 after bowling three overs.
While national selectors were pleased with Hazlewood's participation in the IPL to build up his bowling loads, Clarke believes that he should be in Australia, preparing for red-ball cricket. Clarke suggested that even though Hazlewood would be bowling more in the nets than in the IPL, playing T20 cricket may not be the best preparation for the upcoming Ashes series.
"I just don't know if him bowling three overs, four overs right now is his best preparation for an Ashes series, after the injuries he's had and the amount of time he's had out of Test cricket," Clarke said.
Clarke, who is a cricket commentator, also acknowledged that the significant amount of money associated with the IPL would make it difficult for players to refuse the chance to participate in the tournament. However, he was unsure whether Cricket Australia should have intervened and prevented Hazlewood from playing in the T20 tournament.
"They can do it now. They can stop you going. But it's India. Are you kidding? No-one is saying no to India," Clarke said.
The first half of Australia's six-Test tour of England includes the World Test Championship final against New Zealand, followed by the Ashes series later in the year. Hazlewood is one of four specialist pacemen named in the squad for the tour.