There is some bad news for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ahead of the new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with star allrounder Glenn Maxwell being uncertain for the team’s lung-opener against Mumbai Indians on April 2 and frontline pacer Josh Hazlewood certain to miss the initial part of the tournament.
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Maxwell had missed the last two ODIs in the recently-concluded series against India, in Visakhapatnam and Chennai, earlier in March and has still not recovered fully from the leg injury he sustained last November, according to a report in cricket.com.au.
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Maxwell was bought for Rs 14.25 crore by RCB in the 2021 IPL auctions. He was retained for Rs 11 crore ahead of the 2022 season. In 13 matches for RCB last year, Maxwell scored 301 runs at a strike rate of 169.10. He also claimed six wickets.
On the other hand, Hazlewood, who missed the entire Test series against India in February-March with an Achilles issue, will consult the medical staff of Cricket Australia and take a call on his IPL participation only after getting the green signal, the report added.
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According to Australia’s national selector George Bailey, Maxwell felt that his ODI comeback was “more demanding than he had expected". He is, however, sweating it out in the gym, and looking to get into shape so that he can play a meaningful role for RCB this season. He had hurt his leg in a freak incident at a birthday party last year.
Hazlewood’s absence from the RCB ranks will, however, be longer than his Australian teammate. The 32-year-old pacer was picked up by RCB for Rs 7.75 crore in the mega-auction in 2022. He justified the franchise’s faith in him by claiming 20 wickets in 12 matches for the Bangalore franchise last year at an average (runs conceded per wickets taken) of 18.85 and strike rate (number of balls bowled per wicket) of 13.95. He also registered an IPL career-best figure of 4/25.
RCB finished fourth on the league table with eight wins from 14 matches last year before moving on to the playoffs. They beat Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator but were edged out by Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.
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