RCB in Trouble; Josh Hazlewood to Fly Back Home before Crucial GT Clash
Hazlewood will fly back home (AP Photo)
In a significant development, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have got hampered with a costly loss less than 24 hours before their crucial clash against the table-toppers Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. As per a report, one of their prime bowlers, Josh Hazlewood, has had his Achilles heel injury reoccurred, forcing him to fly back home and miss the team's remaining matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
As reported via a tweet by Cricbuzz's journalist, the Australian seamer will return home due to the same injury, which forced him to miss almost four months of cricket.
Even though the right-arm seamer wasn't included in RCB's Starting XI in their last two outings, Hazlewood's absence would hamper the team's confidence heading into the business end of the tournament. However, to qualify for the playoffs, the Royal Challengers would need to beat the Titans at home, bolstering themselves to 16 points after the end of the league phase.
In the New South Wales pacer's absence, Bangalore will rely on Wayne Parnell, who has been handy during their last two wins over Rajasthan and Hyderabad. Unfortunately, apart from them, they don't have any overseas pace-bowling options left through their ranks.
Not just RCB, if the magnitude of Hazlewood's injury is that much, then it might cost Australia hard during the much-anticipated WTC Final 2023 and the Ashes 2023 following the ICC event.
 "Arjun Bhalla")
