Who knew that a young boy from New South Wales, with exceptional height, would end up becoming one of Australia’s most celebrated pace spearheads? Growing up in a tiny rural town, he led a very simple life in his childhood, riding bikes, swimming, and playing cricket in backyards with friends and family, often alongside his older brother. That is how it all started. His cricketing talent emerged early, which led him to join representative teams as a teenager, after which he eventually moved to Sydney to pursue the sport more seriously.
Since then, the tall man, affectionately known as “Hoff”, has spent over a decade working tirelessly on his line and length, cementing his place in the Australian squad as one of the most consistent wicket-takers of all time. He is considered one of the “big three” in their pace bowling attack, along with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, and is often compared to former Australian stalwart Glenn McGrath for his ability to hit the same spot on a pitch repeatedly in an over.
Unlike other pace bowlers who rely on speed, Hazlewood is known for employing his ‘corridor of uncertainty’. Standing at a towering 6’5”, his height allows him to extract extra bounce—sharper than batters anticipate—and the value he adds to the team has gone way beyond just raw pace or flashy numbers.
Hazlewood has been a part of many of Australia’s golden moments and has contributed immensely to the team’s success. He made his Test debut against India in 2014, where he picked up 7 wickets in the match and led his team to a 4-wicket victory in the process. He was also exceptional in the 2015 Ashes, picking up 16 wickets in the first four games, and in the 2017-18 edition of the same series, he put up a show of absolute brilliance, with 21 wickets to his name. He was a crucial part of the Australian squad that won the World Cup in 2015. In the 2023 World Cup, which was held in India, Hoff was again part of Australia’s title-winning campaign, taking 16 wickets in total.
Hazlewood’s greatest strength has definitely been his ability to maintain his temperament in high-pressure situations. Whether bowling with the new ball in the powerplay or returning in the death overs in a crucial do-or-die situation, he has constantly delivered match-winning spells and provided breakthroughs when his team needed them the most. His absolute masterclass was also evident in his IPL season last year with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Before we even realised it, Hazlewood had become a household name here in India, with fans affectionately giving him the newly coined title of “Hazlegod.” Whether it was the match against Mumbai Indians, where he gave RCB the breakthrough by dismissing Hardik Pandya to start his rampage, or the nail-biting last over in the final, he became a source of absolute hope for RCB fans. He is also one of the very few cricketers to have won almost all the finals he has played in his career – the 2015 and 2023 ODI World Cups, the 2021 T20 World Cup, the 2023 World Test Championship, and two respective IPL titles with CSK and RCB. With his discipline and consistency, he has dominated the pace bowling department across formats, making him a captain’s go-to weapon in the armoury.
However, with his recent record of injuries, he has had to skip multiple series and Test matches as part of workload management. He was ruled out of the 2025 Champions Trophy, and a calf strain cut short his Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign. He was also sidelined during the early phase of IPL 2025 due to a shoulder niggle and was even unable to be a member of the squad during the recent Ashes series due to a hamstring injury. His focus will now definitely be on winning the T20 World Cup, and perhaps the ODI World Cup and World Test Championship in 2027. Having won most of the accolades that the game has to offer, his career is already an epitome of excellence.
Yet now, his every small appearance on the field has started to feel a little too valuable. Hazlewood may never chase the spotlight; while he runs in and hits that peerless length, viewers of the game need to stop, watch, learn, and appreciate this rare craft on display—because players like him do not come around often, and moments like these are meant to be cherished forever while they last.
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