Former Australia fast bowler Ryan Harris has come out with a solid response to Sunil Gavaskar’s comments regarding the absence of Josh Hazlewood from the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide.
Harris termed Gavaskar’s comments and speculations as “garbage” and even claimed that such things only happen in India, not in Australia. Harris cleared the fact that Hazlewood wasn’t out of the team for his comments but he was seriously injured.
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Sunil Gavaskar labels Josh Hazlewood’s injury as a “Mystery”
Josh Hazlewood had earlier blamed the batters for the defeat in Perth and asked the media to question their approach during both the innings of the match. Sunil Gavaskar saw this as an opportunity and even indicated that Hazlewood might have been dropped due to such comments.
Sunil Gavaskar called Hazlewood’s injury a mystery and claimed that the fast bowler looked in good shape during the press conference but got injured later. He called this incident strange and suggested that he might have been dropped due to his behavior.
“Now, a few days later, Hazlewood is out of the second Test and possibly the series too with a supposed side strain. Strange, that, since nobody had noticed anything wrong with Hazlewood at that media conference. Mystery, mystery — the like of which used to be common in Indian cricket in the past,” the column added.
Ryan Harris responds to Sunil Gavaskar regarding Josh Hazlewood’s absence
While speaking to the Indian Express, Ryan Harris rubbished all the rumors and claimed that Sunil Gavaskar’s comments are all “garbage”. He claimed that such kind of politics happens in India and not in Australia.
“Look, there are no, factions. That’s just all garbage. I’ve even heard Mr Gavaskar coming out and saying there’s some faction. It’s all rubbish. That doesn’t happen in Australia. I know it happens in India. I’ve lived there,” Ryan Harris said.
Ryan Harris further mentioned that the Australian media came in between because of the team’s poor performance in the first Test at Perth. However, he saw this as just one defeat and expected Australia to come back.
“There’s no politics and no, you don’t miss a game (On Hazlewood) for saying what he said. I’ve spoken to a couple of the boys here at and everyone’s smart. They just know our media and how they work. The Australian media have jumped on it, because we went so bad in Perth. But you’re allowed to be outplayed,” Ryan Harris added.
Australia’s best bowler in Perth
Josh Hazlewood was Australia’s best bowler in the first Test match at Perth. He finished with 4-29 and 1-28 across both the innings. In the second innings when every other bowler was going for runs, Hazlewood had incredible bowling figures of 21-9-28-1.
However, he was ruled out of the second Test after suffering a ‘low grade left side injury’, according to Cricket Australia. He is likely to be replaced by Scott Boland for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.