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Josh Hazlewood was instrumental for RCB last season. Credits: AFP
On Thursday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) got a major boost when Josh Hazlewood landed in India ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026). However, the troubles are far from over for the defending champions.
Entering the tournament as the reigning champions, RCB had few, if any, flaws to rectify heading into the mini-auctions. However, the team management sidelined the injury concerns in their bowling department. Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Thushara failed his fitness test, Yash Dayal will miss the entire IPL 2026 due to personal reasons, while there’s no certainty over Hazlewood.
Hazlewood, who a major boost in RCB's line-up last season with 22 wickets, has not played any cricket since playing a Sheffield Shield for New South Wales in November last year. Later, he missed all five Ashes Tests for Australia due to his hamstring injury and Achilles' heel.
Josh Hazlewood to miss RCB vs SRH?
After Josh Hazlewood landed on Thursday, reports have started to emerge over his future in the IPL 2026. As per Revsportz, the Aussie pacer missed his practice session in Bengaluru on March 26 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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The right-arm quick has obtained his No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Cricket Australia and was cleared to participate in the IPL 2026. With just one session to go before the game, Hazlewood’s participation in the game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad gets slim.
In Hazlewood’s absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to lead the bowling attack, and RCB are likely to hand debuts to Jacob Duffy and Mangesh Yadav. Meanwhile, it was learnt earlier that the Aussie seamer can miss the first two games for RCB.
RCB management on Josh Hazlewood's availability
During the pre-tournament press conference, RCB's Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, had issued a statement over Josh Hazlewood's availability, stating that the team management is in daily communication with the CA.
However, Bobat also backed off from making any remarks on Hazlewood's official timeline to get the match ready.
“We are liaising very closely with both Josh and Cricket Australia. And our medical teams are collaborating very strongly on a day-to-day basis on this programme. We’ll continue to communicate with him. 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,” Mo Bobat had said.
When did RCB release Josh Hazlewood?
Josh Hazlewood was first bought by the Bengaluru-based franchise in 2022, but he was released by the franchise in the IPL 2024 as he was unavailable due to the impending birth of his child. In IPL 2025, Bengaluru again bought him for a whopping INR 12.50 crore.
Hazlewood repaid for the trust invested in him with a 22-wicket season as they won their maiden IPL trophy. He was their go-to man in all phases of the innings, forming a brilliant trio with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal.
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