Former Indian cricket team all-rounder Irfan Pathan was one of the best fast bowlers of his era. He has retired from all formats of cricket now, but the next gen of fast bowlers has continued to impress the fans. One of them is Australia’s Josh Hazlewood, who reminds Pathan about the great Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath.
Many fans reckon Glenn McGrath as one of the greatest pace bowlers in cricket history. He had a simple run-up and a smooth bowling action. He was not a gun fast bowler like Brett Lee or Shaun Tait, but his accuracy allowed him to trouble the batters frequently.
As per Irfan Pathan, Hazlewood belongs to the same category as well. Hazlewood stole the show in the match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Lucknow Super Giants last night in IPL 2022. He picked up four crucial wickets for RCB and helped his team win the match by 18 runs.
During a post-match discussion on Star Sports, Pathan heaped praise on Hazlewood and said:
“He always reminds us about Glenn McGrath, I say it repeatedly that he is that style of bowler. He is tall and uses his height. He is not a 145 kph bowler, he bowls around 135-138 but along with that the control and extra bounce.“
Irfan Pathan thinks Josh Hazlewood is a complete package
In the same chat, Irfan Pathan recalled how Hazlewood used his slower ball to get rid of Ayush Badoni. Since he had variations and accuracy along with decent pace in his arsenal, Pathan labeled Hazlewood as a complete package, who had a perfect day in the office.
Thanks to a five-wicket haul from Hazlewood, the Royal Challengers Bangalore are second on the IPL 2022 points table now with 10 points from seven matches. They are in contention for a place in the playoffs.
