'More professional than Virat': Dinesh Karthik names Australian star who amazed him in the IPL
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KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Dinesh Karthik names Josh Hazlewood as the most professional cricketer he's worked with.
- Praises Hazlewood's discipline and recovery routine even during late hours.
- Mo Bobat agrees, calling both Virat Kohli and Hazlewood role models for others.
Dinesh Karthik picks Josh Hazlewood as more professional than Virat Kohli in a surprising reveal
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has made a rather unexpected pick when asked to name the most professional cricketer he has ever shared a dressing room with, choosing Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood over Indian great Virat Kohli.
Kohli has been with Royal Challengers Bengaluru since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is still the most important player of the franchise.
Even at the twilight of his career, Kohli is reverred for his extraordinary fitness and professionalism, both on and off the pitch.
However, while appearing on Stick to Cricket, when Karthik was asked directly to identify the most disciplined and professional player he had personally worked alongside across his career, without much hesitation, he named Hazlewood.
His response surprised the other panellists present, who pushed him further to explain his reasoning, particularly given that the comparison implicitly placed the Australian ahead of Kohli, who is someone widely regarded as one of the game's most disciplined cricketers.
"He's on the money with everything he does," Karthik explained.
"Virat is extremely professional, too. I mean, he'll definitely make the conversation and he's right up there. But I really enjoyed how Josh Hazelwood went about it in terms of getting prepared for a test match and you know when he's coming back from injury the kind of hard yards he puts in."
What makes Hazlewood stand out?
Karthik elaborated that what impressed him most about Hazlewood wasn't flashy but rather his sheer consistency in getting the small things right every single time. He recalled instances of long travel days, sometimes stretching six to seven hours, where most players would understandably want to rest immediately upon reaching their hotel. Hazlewood, however, would head straight to the gym.
"We'll finish, we'll travel about 6 hours 7 hours, get into a hotel, he'll go walk straight to the gym, do what he's supposed to do even if it's at 10:00 in the night," he revealed.
"I really, I do think he inspired a lot of the younger bowlers to look and go, wow."
Mo Bobat weighed in supportively, agreeing that both players mentioned represent leading examples of professionalism within their respective environments.
"Yeah, I think both of those names you've mentioned there are like leading candidates from our environment, and they're great examples to everybody else. Virat in his way and Hazelwood would as well."
BCCI/Creimas
Professionalism doesn't always look the same
Karthik's comparison offers a refreshing reminder that discipline in sport doesn't always wear the same face. Kohli's brand of professionalism has become almost iconic, built around visible intensity and public accountability, the kind that naturally draws headlines and inspires imitation.
Hazlewood's version, by contrast, thrives in silence, showing up correctly without needing recognition, which arguably makes it even harder to sustain over a long career. What Karthik is really pointing to isn't a hierarchy between the two, but rather an appreciation for a different, quieter kind of excellence that often gets overlooked in a sport obsessed with star power.
Younger cricketers would do well to study both models rather than assume professionalism only looks one particular way. Sometimes the most inspiring habits aren't the ones captured on camera, but the ones repeated consistently when there's nobody around to notice.
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