Mitchell Johnson

Profile

Identified by Lillee himself at the Australian Cricket Academy, Johnson consequently toured England with Australia's Under-19 squad. However, he struggled with back injuries and only made his first-class debut for Queensland at the age of 20. Recurrent breakdowns denied him the early momentum in his career and it was only in 2004-05, when he enjoyed his first injury-free season.

After taking 5-43 for Queensland in a Pura Cup match, he was called up to the ODI squad in 2005 in place of an injured Brett Lee. He showed glimpses of his prodigious talent in an ODI against India in Malaysia, where he ripped through India's top-order, and taking 4-11 in a four-over burst which included the prized wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. Johnson eventually made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2007, where he collected impressive match figures of 4/96; after being Australia's 12th man during the entire duration of the 2006 Ashes. He went on to have a brilliant away ODI series against India and then starred in Australia's away tour to South Africa in 2009.

A strong round arm bowler, Johnson consistently touches the 150 kph mark and is prone to be wayward at times in his zeal for pace. He swings the ball both ways and also has a good bouncer. His main trump card, however, is his unpredictability and he tends to keep the batsman on their toes. The reverse swing though, is the one weapon he will need to add to his armoury to be a 'complete' bowler .He is a very good fielder in the outfield and a more than capable lower-order batsman with tremendous power to hit the ball over the top. He did not take part in any of the IPL editions, but in 2012, he was bought by the Mumbai for the fifth edition. Unfortunately, Johnson was ruled out of the IPL as he failed to recover from his toe injury.

Fast Facts

• Mitchell Johnson was also named the '’ICC Cricketer of the Year’' in 2009.

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Career

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