IPL 2023: Josh Hazlewood To Miss 7 Games For Royal Challengers Bangalore, Reaching India On THIS Date

RCB pace bowler Josh Hazlewood is yet to recover from an Achilles injury and will miss half of IPL 2023 season.

Photo: BCCI/IPL

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been dealt a big blow with their spearhead Josh Hazlewood ruled out for at least two weeks of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. The Australian pacer will only be arriving in India by April 14 and expected to miss almost half of RCB’s 14 league matches this season.

While Hazlewood will miss at least seven IPL games, his Australian teammate Glenn Maxwell is doubtful for RCB’s opening match against Mumbai Indians on April 2 in Bengaluru as he is yet to fully regain strength post leg fracture.

“Everything is ticking along according to plan, so I’ll be heading over on the 14th (of April) depending on how the next two weeks go,” Hazlewood was quoted as saying by The Age newspaper.

“I probably won’t be quite ready to go right then, but (after) another week in India to touch things up skills wise I should be ready to go hopefully,” the Aussie pacer added.

"When you do get him out, you've earned it!" __

Josh Hazlewood talks about working hard to earn a wicket, & a batter Australians hate to bowl to, on @eatsurenow presents #RCBPodcast! __

Stay tuned for Josh's full episode, releasing tomorrow on RCB's YouTube channel.#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/0gwjRgwuIQ

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 28, 2023

Hazlewood, who had to opt out of Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, is hoping to get ready for the Ashes via the IPL 2023. “You don’t need a lot of workload for T20. It’s more just ticking off those boxes of getting up to speed and pushing back in the run-up. I’m probably only going to need to do one or two sessions at full pace and then I’m probably good to play.

“T20 is a lot different to Test and even one-day cricket. You only need 20 balls at full pace and that's pretty close to a game, which is a good thing,” he said.

The 32-year-old pacer, however, is still awaiting a medical clearance from Cricket Australia before departing for India. “It’s a niggly one, the Achilles tendon. It’s a slow process but it thrives on a bit of work, and I’d have to be bowling to prepare for the Ashes, so it may as well be in a game of cricket,” Hazlewood said.

Hazlewood was one of the pick of RCB bowlers last season, claiming 20 wickets in 12 matches at an excellent average of 18.85. Overall he has picked up 32 wickets in 24 IPL matches at an average of 22.94. RCB will open their IPL 2023 campaign against Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday (April 2).

(with PTI inputs)