IPL 2026: Why is Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood not playing RCB vs SRH season opener in Bengaluru? Explained

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will hope to begin their title defence with a victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on Saturday. Ahead of IPL 2026, several teams have been hit with player injuries and unavailability, and one of those teams are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. (IPL 2026 points table)

Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood, who plays for RCB in the IPL, is one such player who will miss at least the first few matches of IPL 2026.

Because of this, he was ruled out of the first Ashes Test in Perth later that month. In December 2025, Hazlewood suffered an Achilles soreness during his rehabilitation, and was eventually ruled out of the remainder of the Ashes series. He also missed Australia's 2026 T20 World Cup campaign, wherein the former champions crashed out in the group stage.

RCB head coach Andy Flower provided an update on the 35-year-old on Friday. He said that Hazlewood arrived in Bengaluru on Thursday, and although he won't be ready to face SRH, Hazlewood's fitness will be closely monitored.

“Hazlewood arrived yesterday (Thursday) and he’s looking fit. It’s great to have him back around the dressing room and involved in our meetings again.

"He won’t be ready for tomorrow because he’s just arrived, but we’ll monitor his fitness closely and we’re looking forward to him making his entrance into the IPL soon,” Andy said during the pre-match press conference on Friday.

His top performances in IPL 2025 included figures of 4/33 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and 3/21 against Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Even though the right-arm pacer will miss the first few matches, his presence in the RCB dressing room will be an advantage as it gives the opportunity for youngsters like Rasikh Dar and Mangesh Yadav to learn from one of the best pacers in world cricket.

The Rajat Patidar-led side had beaten Punjab Kings by six runs in the final of IPL 2025 in June last year. This meant that RCB finally ended their long trophyless period of 18 years.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the toss and opted to field first in the IPL 2026 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ishan Kishan is leading SRH in the absence of Pat Cummins, who is getting back to full fitness from a back injury.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar(Captain), Jitesh Sharma(Wicketkeeper), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (Captain/Wicketkeeper), Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Salil Arora, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga.