• Home
  • Who Said What
  • Passionate Like Virat Kohli Rcbs Hazlewood Sides With Siraj Amid Ugly Spat With Head

'Passionate Like Virat Kohli': RCB's Hazlewood Sides With Siraj Amid Ugly Spat With Head

Akshita Patel

Josh Hazlewood recalled his time playing with Siraj for RCB [Source: @katyxkohli17, @Dinu_Abii/X.com]Josh Hazlewood recalled his time playing with Siraj for RCB [Source: @katyxkohli17, @Dinu_Abii/X.com]

Australian speedster Josh Hazlewood recalled his time with RCB and stated that he enjoyed bowling with Mohammed Siraj. Hazlewood's praise for Siraj comes at the time when the Indian bowler got into an ugly spat with Travis Head during the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Adelaide.

Mohammed Siraj and Travis exchange verbal blows during the second inning of the pink ball Test in Adelaide Oval. Head, having scored a century, slapped a six off Siraj's delivery. 

On the next ball, the bowler cleaned up his stumps and gave an aggressive send-off. Being insulted by the same, the Aussie also retaliated, leading to a war of words. The verbal battle went on when both accused each other of lying about the incident in the press interviews.

Josh Hazlewood calls Siraj a passionate man amid tussle with Travis Head

With the Siraj-Head rivalry intensifying, Josh Hazlewood has indirectly justified the Indian speedster's actions. In his interview with Perth Now, Hazlewood said that he enjoyed bowling with Siraj in RCB. He praised Siraj for his passion and compared his attitude to Virat Kohli. Not only that, the Aussie referred to the right-arm pacer as a man with good character and overall a fun personality to be around. 

"I really enjoyed my time at RCB with him. He's probably the leader of the attack there, to a degree. He's another one who's a bit like Virat (Kohli), very passionate, goes with the flow of the game, gets the crowd up. (He has) bowled serious spells in the IPL in the last few years. He's just a good character and it's good to see sometimes," Hazlewood said.

Josh Hazlewood missed the second Test in Adelaide with a side strain. His availability for the third Test in Gabba is subject to fitness.

Hazlewood back at RCB, Siraj out

In an unexpected turn of events, RCB bought back Josh Hazlewood for INR 12.50 crore during the IPL 2025 mega auction. However, the team management refused to use the RTM card for Mohammed Siraj. Having spent 7 seasons in Bengaluru, Siraj will now play for Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2025 season.