I really enjoyed my time at RCB with Siraj – Josh Hazlewood

Things were pretty heated between Mohammed Siraj and Travis Head in Adelaide. Even though there has been considerable mud-slinging from various experts and fans, yet, there was no love lost between an RCB returnee and his former comrade in the Red, Gold and Blue threads. Josh Hazlewood, who was signed by RCB at the IPL Auction 2025 heaped tons of praise on Siraj’s passionate attitude on the field.

Speaking to reporters on Monday in a media interaction as quoted by Yahoo Sports, Josh Hazlewood said, “I really enjoyed my time at RCB with him. He's probably the leader of the attack there, to a degree. He's another one who's a bit like Virat (Kohli), very passionate, goes with the flow of the game, gets the crowd up. (He has) bowled serious spells in the IPL in the last few years. He's just a good character and it's good to see sometimes."

Siraj claimed four wickets in the first innings in Adelaide, complementing Jasprit Bumrah’s brilliance. However, the Indian batters failed to live up to the lofty expectations and India couldn’t get the wheels rolling. However, Siraj will be hopeful of producing a better show when India takes the yard for the third Test in Gabba, starting from 14th December.

Hazlewood, who missed the second Test with a side strain, shared an update about his current fitness. He said that there will be further assessment of his condition before a decision is being made on his availability for Gabba.

Hazlewood stated, “It'll be how I pull up in the 24 hours following it. (It's about) cooling down pretty much fully and then going again in the same day, and the intensity has got to be right up there as well. I think if this (Adelaide) was the last Test of the summer, I could have potentially run the gauntlet and played. I think I would have been in a pretty bad state by the end of the game - even though it was only a short game, it just wasn't quite right."