Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have suffered double blow before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 as two of their prominent players will miss the start of the season. While Josh Hazlewood is confirmed to miss a few games at the start of the season, Glenn Maxwell is doubtful for RCB’s opening game.
As per cricket.com.au, Hazlewood is down with an Achilles problem. The same issue saw him miss the complete Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He was in India for the Test series but couldn’t participate in any of the fixtures.
As for Maxwell, the star all-rounder is recovering from the leg injury that he suffered last year. He did play the opening ODI of the series against India but was forced to sit out of the last two matches. He recently provided a big update on his fitness and as per Cricket.com.au, Maxwell is uncertain for RCB’s first match.
“The leg’s okay. It’s going to be a number of months before I’m 100 per cent. Hopefully, it’s (leg) good enough to get through the tournament and still do the job,” Maxwell told RCB recently.
Both Maxwell and Hazlewood joined RCB for a huge sum of money. The franchise spent a huge sum of Rs 14.25 crore on Maxwell in the IPL 2021 mini-auction. He was retained for Rs 11 crore before the IPL 2022 mega-auction.
RCB had to spend a huge sum of Rs 7.75 crore in the IPL 2022 mega-auction for Hazlewood. He scalped 20 wickets in 12 matches he played last year. Hazlewood’s absence will see RCB miss one of their top pacers. RCB will also be without the services of Waninudu Hasaranga for a few games.
The Faf du Plessis-led side will kick off its IPL 2023 campaign against Mumbai Indians in a home fixture on Sunday (April 2).
