Hazlewood Joins RCB, IPL Captains Meet And Rizwan In Club Cricket – March 17 Cricket Highlights

Josh Hazlewood and Mohammad Rizwan [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan ditched National T20 Cup 2025 to play club cricket. Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has arrived in Bengaluru for RCB’s IPL 2025 campaign amidst injury concerns. In other news, England cricketers Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have backed the BCCI over Harry Brook’s ban.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Monday, March 17.

Mohammad Rizwan Ditches National T20 Cup For Club Cricket

Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan, who was dropped by the PCB for the T20I series in New Zealand, has chosen to play club cricket instead of prioritising the 2025 National T20 Cup. Rizwan recently led Pakistan to a winless 2025 ICC Champions Trophy campaign. Under his leadership, the ‘Men in Green’ suffered humiliating defeats to New Zealand and India, and also lost the preceding tri-series at home.

With National T20 Cup currently in action, pictures of Rizwan playing a club cricket match surfaced on social media, which subsequently raised eyebrows of many Pakistani fans and cricket experts.

Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid Back BCCI Over Harry Brook Ban

England cricketers Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have backed BCCI’s decision of banning Harry Brook for two years from participating in the IPL. It is worth noting that Brook, who was roped in by the Delhi Capitals at the mega auction, recently pulled himself out of the IPL 2025 season mere weeks prior to the launch of the tournament.

While speaking on the “Beard Before Cricket” podcast, Moeen Ali explained how such last-minute withdrawals can disrupt season’s planning of a team. Adil Rashid also stated that one must face the consequences for pulling out of an IPL season after putting their names in.

Josh Hazlewood Lands In Bengaluru For IPL 2025

Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood landed in Bengaluru on March 17 to join his RCB teammates for the IPL 2025 season. Hazlewood has been dealing with his share of injuries for the past few months, and played his last competitive match back in December 2024 with a Border-Gavaskar Test against India in Brisbane.

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The speedster was roped in by the RCB franchise back during the IPL 2025 mega auction amidst his injury concerns. With his impending return, Josh Hazlewood last played an IPL match back in 2023.

IPL Captains Meet To Be Held On March 20

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the pre-season customary IPL captains’ meet will be organised on Thursday, March 20, i.e., just a couple of days prior to the launch of the IPL 2025 season. All 10 captains and team managers will be expected to be present at the event.

Scheduled to be held at the BCCI headquarters alongside Taj Hotel in Mumbai, the IPL Captains meet will last four hours. Notably, as many as five franchises will be playing with new captains this season.

DC Coach Munaf Patel Joins Seattle Orcas For MLC 2025

Former Indian cricketer and Delhi Capitals bowling coach Munaf Patel has joined Seattle Orcas for the upcoming MLC 2025 season. The Orcas confirmed the appointment of Munaf as their new bowling coach on March 17. The franchise also named former English cricketer Ian Bell as team’s new batting coach.

Nonetheless, Munaf Patel, India’s 2011 World Cup-winning cricketer, is currently prepping up Delhi Capitals bowlers for the IPL 2025 season.

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