"Oh is he?" - Team India star's hilarious reply to journalist over Josh Hazlewood missing remainder of AUS vs IND 2025 T20Is [Watch]

Team India opener Abhishek Sharma was surprised to find out that Australia's new-ball bowler Josh Hazlewood will miss the remaining three T20Is of the ongoing five-match series. The opener's reaction during the post-game press conference after the second T20I in Melbourne on Friday, October 31, sparked laughter among the reporters.

Hazlewood had been impeccable in both ODIs and T20Is against India, troubling the batters with consistent line and lengths. Having maintained an economy rate of 3.13 in the preceding three-game ODI series, the New South Welshman delivered a match-winning spell in the second T20I. He returned with figures of 4-0-13-3 as Australia restricted India to 125 and later won by four wickets.

A journalist during the presser asked Abhishek:

"Are you relieved to know he's (Hazlewood) not going to play for the rest of the series?"

The 25-year-old, who top-scored for India with 68, responded by saying:

"Oh is he? I didn't know this but obviously, I mean he is good enough to play all the formats but still, I was enjoying this challenge because somehow, as a batter, you have to face the world-class bowlers and that's what I was trying to do."

Watch the video of the interaction here:

Hazlewood had returned with figures of 3-0-24-0 in the first T20I in Canberra, which was washed out. He will miss the remaining three T20Is to prepare for the upcoming Ashes series.

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"I haven't seen something like this in T20Is" - Abhishek Sharma on Josh Hazlewood's spell

Abhishek Sharma. (Image Credits: Getty)

When asked about the challenge presented by Hazlewood, the No.1-ranked T20I batter stated that he was surprised to see how well Hazlewood bowled and executed his plans. Abhishek added:

"I think as a batter, I was watching him in the ODIs as well. So, somehow we knew that he's going to give us this much difficulty and challenges. So, obviously the way he bowled today, even I got surprised. I haven't seen something like this in T20Is and this is something new for me as well because I'm a batter that wants to dominate. But when I was seeing on the other side that how he is bowling and even to me as well. Seems like he had a plan and he was just executing it."

The Men in Blue will look to level the series in the third T20I against Australia on Sunday, November 2, with Hobart set to host the fixture.

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava