Josh Hazlewood Reveals The Indian Batsman He Wants To Mankad
Feb 19, 2020 at 3:49 PM
Australian talisman bowler Josh Hazlewood has revealed the Indian batsman he would like to Mankad. Hazlewood stated that he might look to Mankad India’s solid Test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara. The right-hander was awarded the Player of the series on the tour of 2018-19 as he had scored 521 runs. Furthermore, Pujara had breathed down the neck of the Australian bowlers as he had faced more than 1000 balls in the series.
Pujara is a hard batsman to get out and there are hardly any chunks in his armor. Thus, it is difficult to get past him especially if he gets settled. At the recent Cricket Australia awards, Josh Hazlewood was asked the tricky question.
There is always confusion between the spirit of the game and the laws.
Meanwhile, the Mankad dismissal was once again the talk of the town when Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmed Mankad Pakistan’s batsman Muhammad Huraira who was batting on 64 in the recently concluded Under-19 World Cup.
Subsequently, there were expected arguments whether this dismissal is in the spirit of the game or not. It is definitely within the laws of the game and it is mostly mixed with the spirit of the game.
In fact, Ravichandran Ashwin had also sparked controversy in IPL 2019 when he had Mankad Rajasthan Royals’ opening batsman Jos Buttler.
🗣 "I hope I don't find myself in that situation." – Meg Lanning
🗣 "I reckon I'll save that one for the next time … at Pujara." – Josh Hazlewood@gradecricketer chats with the Aussies about the Mankad 😅 pic.twitter.com/8pSpWSU8a6
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) February 19, 2020
On the other hand, Josh Hazlewood had showered high praise on Cheteshwar Pujara before the tour even started in 2018-19. Hazlewood had claimed that all the focus will not be on Virat Kohli and they would aim to get Pujara out early as he is the backbone of India’s middle order.
“No definitely not. I probably see [Cheteshwar] Pujara as the big wicket as far as when I’m bowling, the glue that holds them together I think. He’s batted the most balls this series and scored nearly the most runs.
“I see Pujara as a big wicket and Ajinkya Rahane as well. So the Nos. 3, 4, 5 as the key wickets and we see it a bit unstable in the other parts of the order. Certainly, not all the focus is on Virat Kohli,” Hazlewood had told reporters during the Perth Test.
India will tour Australia later in the year for the Test series.