Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Josh Hazelwood is all set to return to playing 11 for the Faf du Plessis-led side in their clash against Lucknow Super Giants on May 1 in Ekana stadium. The Australian pacer will play his first competitive game in four months after missing out on BGT 2023 against India.
The 32-year-old has not played any cricket since he sustained an Achilles injury during the SCG Test in January. Josh Hazelwood has been working closely with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Cricket Australia’s medical team to be fully fit for the all-important WTC final and Ashes 2023.
The Right-arm pacer joined the Bangalore franchise earlier this month and has started to bowl in the practices session for the Faf du Plessis side. The Australian pacer was highly impressive for the RCB side in 2022 as he had 20 wickets in 12 matches last year.
Earlier, Speaking to the media, Hazelwood wants to slowly build on his recovery process to keep completely fit for all important Ashes. According to reports, Cricket Australia has cleared his participation for the remainder of the IPL games.
“I’ve chatted with guys at Cricket Australia, Cricket NSW … to get a plan together. It’s probably about short-term loss versus long-term gain a lot of the time, You’ve got a T20 World Cup or an IPL or a one-day series, it’s about still ticking those boxes off the field to be ready to go for a Test series,” Josh Hazelwood said.
With English pitches favouring the pacers, Australia has picked Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazelwood, Scott Boland, and all-rounder Cameron Green to form the fast-bowling group alongside their skipper Pat Cummins.
In The Long Term, You Might Be Better Placed For An Ashes Or Home Test Summer – Josh Hazelwood
Earlier Josh Hazelwood stated that the shorter format of the game would help him to build on to play on the longer format of the game and said that it is important to fit for the WTC final and Ashes 2023.
“It might hurt that particular series, or you might not be 100 per cent but in the long term, you might be better placed for an Ashes or a home Test summer. It’s just about summing up what’s right and how much you can do,” Josh Hazelwood added
In the previous encounter, the Virat Kohli-led side suffered their fourth loss out of the eight games they played so far in the league. They were inconsistent with both bat and ball against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be on the road for the next five games starting from Lucknow Super Giants on May 1 in Ekana Stadium Lucknow and will look to come back stronger to make themselves in the playoffs hunt in IPL 2023.