Australia and Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer, Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of their must-win game against Gujarat Titans. Apparently, his Achilles injury, which kept him out of the game since Australia’s home series against South Africa, has reoccurred. Last December, he played against the West Indies but was ruled out after that. Hazlewood did arrive in India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February-March this year but returned home mid-way.
Since then, the two-time World Cup winner focused on his recovery which is why he didn’t play almost half of the ongoing IPL 2023. In the reverse fixture between RCB and Lucknow Super Giants, the Aussie played his first game of the season. He did decently before the reverse fixture against Mumbai Indians in which he was belted, predominantly by Suryakumar Yadav. The right-arm pacer didn’t play after this and was replaced by Wayne Parnell.
In the must-win games against Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, the three-time finalists won convincingly. Meanwhile, ahead of their final league game against table toppers, GT, the Bangalore-based side has lost their premier bowler.
Josh Hazlewood has joined the list of injured RCB players
Meanwhile, Hazlewood isn’t the only player to get injured. In the first game against MI, the team lost Reece Topley via shoulder injury. Ahead of the season, the Faf du Plessis-led side lost Will Jacks, who was replaced by Michael Bracewell. On the other hand, the Royal Challengers will look to win and also hope for MI not to go ahead of their NRR after the MI v Sunrisers Hyderabad game.
Thanks to the Blue Brigade, MI’s inability to finish their reverse fixture against Gujarat Titans early, they have a negative NRR (-0.128). On the other hand, RCB, after thrashing Rajasthan Royals, has an NRR of (0.180). If MI lose their last game, all RCB needs to do is to ensure they don’t lose by more than six runs. Otherwise, RR will qualify on the basis of their NRR.
