Josh Hazlewood accused of classless sledge after hitting Indian star in the head

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood was losing his cool and copped some blowback after uttering three words to an Indian star.

Josh Hazlewood came under fire.

Josh Hazlewood has come under fire for sledging Cheteshwar Pujara after hitting the Indian batsman in the head with a vicious bouncer on day five of the fourth Test.

Pujara was doing his best impersonation of a brick wall as India batted to save — and possibly even win — the series decider in Brisbane.

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After challenging the top of off stump for much of the morning session, Australia took a different approach before lunch and in the middle session when its fast bowlers targeted Pujara with plenty of aggressive short stuff.

The resilient first drop looked all at sea against a bouncer barrage from Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Cummins in particular did some nasty damage, repeatedly hitting Pujara on the arms, ribs and hands.

The trainer was forced to come onto the field and assess Pujara as he copped an absolute hammering from the hosts’ bouncer barrage. Unwilling to play the hook and pull shots, and unable to duck or sway out of the way, he was in a world of pain.

Fast bowling legend Brett Lee pointed out in commentary for Fox Cricket when Pujara was on 39 he had been hit 10 times.

Midway through the day a bouncer from Hazlewood decked back dramatically and smashed Pujara in the helmet, knocking a protective guard clean off.

The Indian star tried to evade the ball and turned his head at the last second, but the ball clattered into his grill in a terrifying moment that had everyone fearing for his safety.

Pujara wore plenty of blows on the body.

But Hazlewood was accused of not showing enough care for his opponent, stump microphones appearing to pick up the Aussie paceman saying “see that one?” — perhaps in reference to the amount of times Pujara had taken his eye off short balls and been hit on the body.

Fox Cricket’s Adam Gilchrist suggested the sledge was the result of Pujara pulling away the previous ball when Hazlewood was halfway through his run-up because a butterfly flew in front of him, infuriating the Aussie star.

Daily Telegraph sports editor James Silver tweeted: “Not a real big fan of Hazlewood sledging Pujara with ‘see that one’ immediately after smashing his helmet to bits.”

Former AFL player turned radio host Xavier Ellis wrote: “‘See that one’ to Pujara wasn’t really Hazlewood showing great concern for the wellbeing of the opponent post brutal bouncer. Commentary may have overstated the concern of the Australians.”

Cricket writer Sreshth Shah added: “Another example of elite cricket behaviour when the chips are stacked against you. Poor form from Hazlewood.”

Plenty of Indian fans also took aim at the Aussie quick on social media.