Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood has opened up about his experience sharing the field with Mohammed Siraj during their time at the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL. As Siraj makes headlines for his heated exchange with Travis Head during the recent Adelaide Test, Hazlewood compared Siraj’s intensity to that of Indian cricket legend Virat Kohli.

The clash between Siraj and Head during the second Test of the ongoing series saw the fast bowler bowl a fiery yorker to dismiss Head. However, it was Siraj’s aggressive send-off that grabbed attention, leading to an exchange of words between the two and boos from the Adelaide crowd.

Reflecting on Siraj’s fiery nature, Hazlewood expressed admiration for his passion. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Hazlewood said:

"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, who missed the Adelaide Test due to a side strain, spoke about his potential return for the next match. The 33-year-old seamer revealed that although he sat out of the second Test, he hopes to recover in time for the upcoming fixture in Brisbane. However, he remained cautious about his fitness level.

"It'll be how I pull up in the 24 hours following it. (It's about) cooling down pretty much fully and then going again in the same day, and the intensity has got to be right up there as well," Hazlewood explained. He further added, "I think if this (Adelaide) was the last Test of the summer, I could have potentially ran the gauntlet and played. I think I would have been in a pretty bad state by the end of the game - even though it was only a short game, it just wasn't quite right."