'It's a lot more fun playing with your teammates' - Premier Australia and RCB pacer Josh Hazlewood opens up on why he chose cricket over javelin throw

Australia and Royal Challengers Bangalore pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood has recently revealed why he preferred cricket over javelin throw as a young boy. Talking to Danish Sait in The RCB Podcast, Hazlewood cited the reasons for doing so. He said that he had to take part in athletics in the winter to keep himself fit and get some time off school.

He further went on to say that when he was 15 or 16 years old, he had to make a choice between cricket and javelin throw, which he used to practice as part of his athletics regime.

Josh further said that cricket was a team game and thus, he thought it would be fun playing with his teammates, compared to a solitary career in javelin throw.

"I think I always felt cricket was my first passion and I think I was around probably 15 or 16 years old when I guess I had to make a choice sort of. I really just did athletes in the winter to keep myself fit and get some time off school really. But yeah, cricket was my passion and it was a team event obviously, so I think that sort of pushed me in that direction. It's a lot more fun playing with your teammates than sort of a solo career in athletics which can be a bit lonely sometimes," said Hazlewood.

Individual sports are so difficult: Hazlewood

Hazlewood further went on to differentiate how results are affected in team and individual sports events. He said that while it totally depended upon the athlete in an individual sport, in team sports, even if one had a bad day, someone else who could be having a great stint, could cover it up and ultimately, despite a bad performance, one can get a chance to taste victory.

"Individual sports are so difficult, not that I've done them for a long period of time but it just is probably more low days than high days I guess and if you're a team in a team event, then it's probably 50-50. You know when they will lose the game and even if you have a bad day or a bad week, then your teammates can have a great week and you can enjoy their success and that's probably something I've learned over the years," he further added.

Notably, Royal Challengers Bangalore will play their next match in the ongoing Indian Premier League against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 6.