Mitchell Johnson reveals an incident involving Phillip Hughes during 2013 tour of India
Former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson opened up about a training ground incident involving the now deceased Phillip Hughes during Australia’s tour to India in 2013, Fox Sports reports. The fast bowler revealed that he had apologised to Hughes and Glenn Maxwell after bowling a particularly hostile spell that involved a lot of bouncers at the duo during one of the practice sessions.
Hughes tragically passed away in November 2014 after being hit by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match at the SCG and Johnson, who was known for his hostile bowling at the opposition, revealed that even his teammates had to bear the brunt of his unfriendly bowling at times.
“I do remember apologising to him (Hughes) and Glenn Maxwell because they pretty much copped the brunt of it,” Johnson said.
“That was something I did a lot of, I did practice my short ball and I did train the way that I would play and the guys knew that. A lot of guys did love that challenge.”
The incident to which the 34-year-old is referring occurred during the tour which is remembered mostly for the ‘homework saga’ wherein Johnson, along with Shane Watson, James Pattinson, and Usman Khawaja, were dropped from the squad for the third Test after failing to complete a series of assignments given to them by then coach Mickey Arthur.
Johnson admitted that he had taken things too far by diverting his anger at the decision on to his teammates.
“It was a very selfish moment for me and it was something that, I don’t regret it, but it probably wasn’t the right thing to do at the time,” he said.
Hughes’ death changed me as a bowler, says Johnson
Johnson also spoke at length about how Hughes’ untimely death had made him question himself regarding the use of bouncers. He also talked about Virat Kohli being hit on the helmet by one of his deliveries during the opening Test of India’s 2014-15 tour of Australia, days after attending Hughes funeral, and how it had a huge impact on his approach to fast bowling.
“I just wanted to make sure he was okay, and once I knew he was okay I didn’t really get on with it to be honest,” Johnson said.
“I put the short ball away … and didn’t really bowl it with any meaning. I built my game around that. The Ashes series before that was built around intimidation and I went away from that.
“The last year or so of my career I probably went away from it, and when I did bowl it, it wasn’t with any real meaning. It definitely changed the way I thought afterwards.”