Abhishek Sharma faced four deliveries from Josh Hazlewood at the MCG on Friday night. The first was a classic Hazlewood back of a length delivery that he charged at and missed. Abhishek had tried the same in the previous over off Xavier Bartlett and deposited him over long-off with a tinge of audacity.

But this was against Hazlewood. The ball pitched around the same spot it did from Bartlett at the other end. But it was quicker, it was zippier, and it was bouncier. It was just better. This was a different gravy.

It wasn't just the ball. It was the bowler.

The second delivery was full and at the aggressive left-hander's pads, which he managed to squeeze down to square-leg off the inside part of his bat for a single. Nowhere close to as convincingly as he was getting inside the line and whipping the others over fine-leg and deep backward square leg. Different gravy again. Not the ball, but the bowler.

The next two balls Hazlewood bowled to the No. 1 T20I batter in the world came in the over after the powerplay. The first of which angled away from Abhishek off that trademark Hazlewood length, and nearly had him caught by a diving Josh Inglis behind the wicket. At the other end, he was using the right-armer's over the wicket angle, to open up the off-side and slam them over point and cover. Not against Hazlewood though. Different gravy.

The final ball of this short set from arguably the best three-format fast bowler currently in the world was one that jumped off a shortish length and hurried Abhishek, even hitting him in the ribs off the inside edge. Thankfully for the 25-year-old dynamo and for India, this was the last over of Hazlewood for the night in front of 82,000 at the MCG.

This was also the 34-year-old's final international appearance for the summer before the first Test of the Ashes. But if you are an Australian fan, you're wishing the Ashes were starting now. For, this was perhaps among the best spells Hazlewood has ever bowled with any coloured ball at a time he seems to be producing his ultimate best every time he's running in. It surely was up there as one of the best displays of fast bowling in a T20I powerplay ever, his figures reading 3/6 after 3 overs. For the record, that now means Hazlewood has bowled 40 overs in the powerplay across all T20 cricket this year, and has taken 18 wickets at 15.61 with an economy rate of 7.02, averaging 55.4 dot balls in that period.

But those unreal numbers were still overshadowed by simply how challenging it seemed to be for every Indian batter who faced Hazlewood on Friday night. Much like was the case for Rohit Sharma and the Indian top order in both the Perth and Adelaide ODIs, where he scripted one of the most eye-catching wicketless spells in 50-over cricket.

Here, Abhishek survived, just about. Unlike Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma.

The greatness of Hazlewood though is how his spells, his dream deliveries and his dismissals mimic each other regardless of what format he's operating in. In terms of impact and also in terms of how he goes about it.

Take the first over to Gill. He started with that perfect Hazlewood length and the trademark lift and carry as it beat the right-hander's outside edge, only to collected by Josh Inglis in front of his face behind the wickets. This could easily have been Zak Crawley on the opening morning at Perth Stadium. He then released a booming in-swinger that had Gill trapped in front of his stumps, or so thought the umpire, before DRS provided the opener a reprieve. The third delivery rose from short of length again and smacked Gill right next to the badge of his helmet as he tried to take the game on by taking a couple of steps at the bowler. This was classic Test bowling in coloured clothing.

As was probably the best delivery bowled on Friday night when Suryakumar, was nicked off by a delivery that Australia hopes Hazlewood produces over and over again during the Ashes. The perfect setup after the Indian captain had been roughed up by a short delivery, and if anything should have been caught by Inglis down the leg-side, off the previous delivery.

This one kissed that Hazlewood habitat on the pitch and nipped away enough to catch the splice of Suryakumar's bat and had him caught behind. There was a tinge of helplessness in the way India's senior-most T20I batter reacted to getting out. It felt like an admission that it simply was too good for him, as it generally is when Hazlewood is operating at this level.

It was a bizarre night at the MCG which witnessed a number of quirky irregularities, whether it was in the way the cricket played out, the fields set by Suryakumar later -two short legs and a back stop while Australia were bossing the game - or even the way India's own batters managed to keep their foremost power-hitter away from the strike. But it was Hazlewood's class act that stole the show on a very loud night at the MCG.

Perhaps, Virat Kohli in the period between 2016 to 2019 is the only other cricketer, even if he did it with the bat, who comes close to what Hazlewood seems to be doing currently. Which is bossing all three formats while pretty much sticking to his natural strengths and weapons. Different gravy, same ingredients and the same devastating recipe.

And he's pretty much put the English on notice as we gear up for the main event of the summer in less than a month's time.