Defending Champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) look set to start their IPL 2026 campaign without champion fast bowler Josh Hazlewood. The seasoned star will miss the opening two games for his franchise as he continues his recovery from an injury-laden home summer, where he missed the entire Ashes series. Hazlewood, who suffered a hamstring injury before picking up an Achilles complaint during his recovery, was one of the keys to RCB finally breaking their IPL title drought last year, picking up 22 wickets at 17.54, the most for his team.
Hazlewood is likely to be joined on the late arrivals’ list for the IPL by fellow Australian fast bowling elite in Pat Cummins, who too is not expected to feature in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s opening few matches, which includes a clash against Hazlewood’s RCB on the opening night of the season on March 28. The SRH captain only played a solitary Test during the Ashes, at the Adelaide Oval in mid-December, having been in rehabilitation from a niggling back injury that he picked up last July in the Caribbean.
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