India’s former wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik hailed Josh Hazlewood during the ongoing World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s. Hazlewood returned to IPL after the tournament was suspended and slowly increased his workload in the practice sessions to prepare for the WTC final.

The Australian lanky pacer bagged 1-27 in 15 overs he bowled in the first innings against the Proteas. Hazlewood accounted for Tristan Stubbs as he got the ball to seam back into the right-hander.

Meanwhile, Hazlewood played a key role in RCB’s maiden IPL title triumph as he scalped 22 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 17.55.

Karthik, who served as RCB’s mentor in IPL 2025, observed Hazlewood from close quarters in the season.

“Josh Hazlewood was the walking example of what professional is in the sport – in the first few weeks he was just preparing for T20 cricket but in the last 2 weeks, when he cameback, he had one eye on IPL but in practice he slowly increased the workload with 6 overs, 8 overs, 12 overs – that in the heat of India was phenomenal,” Dinesh Karthik said during commentary on Day 2 of the WTC Final.

Hazlewood is known to bowl an accurate line and length in Test cricket and his deadly accuracy has been a key factor behind his success in the red-ball version.

Meanwhile, Australia ended the second day’s play at 144-8 with a lead of 218 runs. Alex Carey top-scored with 43 runs whereas Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi bagged three wickets each for the Proteas.

Earlier, Australia posted 212 runs in the first innings and they were able to take a 74-run lead after South Africa was bundled out for 138.