Josh Hazlewood IPL 2026 Concern: As Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) gear up to defend their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) crown, uncertainty continues to surround the availability of one of their key pace weapons, Josh Hazlewood. The Australian fast bowler, instrumental in the franchise’s title-winning run last season, is yet to fully recover from injury, which had also kept him out of the recent ICC T20 World Cup, prompting a cautious approach from both the player and governing bodies ahead of IPL 2026.
RCB Maintain Close Coordination With Cricket Australia
RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat, confirmed during a press conference that the franchise is working in tandem with Cricket Australia to monitor Hazlewood’s progress.
“As most people would know, Josh has missed quite a bit of cricket recently with injuries, so he’s currently working through a return-to-play programme. He’s doing that in Australia currently. We are liaising with both Josh and Cricket Australia, and our medical teams are collaborating very strongly on a day-to-day basis on his programme,”
The pacer is currently in Australia undergoing rehabilitation as part of a structured return-to-play programme following his hamstring injury sustained during the Sheffield Shield last November.
The franchise has emphasised that Hazlewood will only travel to India once Cricket Australia is fully satisfied with his fitness.
“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 added.
Hazlewood Out Of Early Matches
The experienced fast bowler has not featured in competitive cricket since his injury and was also forced to miss the T20 World Cup 2026 due to incomplete recovery. As things stand, he is expected to sit out the initial phase of IPL 2026, with no confirmed timeline for his return.
This absence comes as a setback for RCB, given Hazlewood’s impact in 2025, where his performances played a vital role in their successful campaign.
RCB Confident In Domestic Pace Options
Despite the unavailability of Hazlewood and the absence of Yash Dayal for the entire season due to personal reasons, the Bengaluru-based franchise remains optimistic about its bowling depth.
“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.” said Bobat.
RCB will launch their IPL 2026 campaign on March 28 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
