Josh Hazlewood. (Photo Credits: X)
Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will join the RCB squad only once Cricket Australia (CA) is satisfied with his recovery from injury. RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, said the franchise is working closely with CA.
The right-arm bowler has not played since suffering a hamstring injury during a Sheffield Shield match in November and in fact, missed the T20 World Cup 2026 that was co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. “As most people would know, Josh has missed quite a bit of cricket recently with injuries,” Bobat said on Tuesday. “He’s currently working through a return-to-play programme in Australia, and we are liaising closely with Cricket Australia and our medical teams on a daily basis.”
He further added that the pacer will travel to India only after deemed fit by Cricket Australia. “We’ll continue to communicate with them, and as soon as he gets to a point where Cricket Australia are happy, he’ll come over, and we hope to have him with us very soon,” he said.
RCB have suffered a blow as they won’t have the services of Hazlewood in the initial phase while Yash Dayal is unavailable for the season for personal reasons. But Bobat has put his weight behind the other bowlers. “We have some excellent domestic fast bowlers in our squad. Rasik, who you know many of you will know, Abhinandan, who we had with us last year, and then we also signed Mangesh in this auction, so domestically we have three excellent potential options there that could replace him,” he said.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be up against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening match of the tournament on March 28 at M Chinnaswamy before hosting Chennai Super Kings on April 5. The team will then travel to Guwahati on April 10 to face Rajasthan Royals before travelling to Mumbai for the last encounter against Mumbai Indians in the first phase.
Generally, the two finalists of the previous season play against each other in the first match of the next edition but the BCCI has broken the trend this time. RCB had won the IPL trophy after defeating Punjab Kings in the finale in 2025.
Josh Hazlewood played a very important part in RCB’s winning triumph. He picked up 22 wickets in 12 matches at an economy of 8.77. The franchise would want him to replicate the performance for the side as and when he joins the unit.
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