Hazlewood had to overcome a shoulder niggle before returning to IPL 2025
Former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson was heavily critical of Pat Cummins’ side following their performance in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final loss to South Africa at the Lord’s.
Australia, who were the defending champions, set South Africa a target of 282 in the second innings which the Proteas chased within five sessions thanks to a sparkling 136 by opener Aiden Markram and a defiant 66 by captain Temba Bavuma.
While the WTC 2025 win ended South Africa’s 27-year wait for an ICC trophy, it also snapped Josh Hazlewood’s undefeated streak of nine summit clashes as well as Pat Cummins’ record of not losing any ICC event final as a captain.
Johnson, who played 73 Tests and claimed 313 wickets for Australia, felt that the quartet of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon shouldn’t be a ‘lock’ after the latest loss.
“Our successful ‘big four’ bowling attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon can’t be taken for granted as a lock going forward either,” Johnson wrote in his column for The West Australian on the quartet who have claimed a combined total of 1,522 Test wickets.
Hazlewood, who was in stiff competition with an in-form Scott Boland, was playing a Test for the first time since the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in December last year.
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Meanwhile, Cummins and Starc were also out of action for a brief while and missed the Champions Trophy 2025 before being ready for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 where they appeared for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Delhi Capitals respectively.
Hazlewood managed to recover from a shoulder niggle during the final phase of the IPL and helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to their maiden title in 18 years with 22 wickets from just 12 matches.
Johnson singled out Hazlewood saying the 34-year-old had prioritised IPL over national duty.
“We’ve seen concerns about Hazlewood’s fitness in recent years, and his decision to prioritise returning to the delayed Indian Premier League over his national team preparations raised eyebrows. Lyon didn’t look his best on day three either,” Johnson said.
Senior Australian players have a history for tearing up their lucrative IPL contracts to be fit for the national team previously, but the introduction of the player ban has forced overseas players to reconsider their participation in the cash-rich league.
“If veteran players are sticking around just for the Ashes as a send-off, it does beg the question of whether that’s the right mindset. It’s crucial that we embrace the future and build confidence in selecting our next Test players. Players on the fringe such as Sam Konstas, Josh Inglis and Scott Boland, despite being 36, have a different mentality. They’re eager to prove themselves every time they get a chance,” Johnson added.
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