Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Director of Cricket Mo Bobat recently gave crucial updates regarding the availability of two crucial stars – Josh Hazlewood and skipper Rajat Patidar ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) restart.
Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood is currently in Australia, nursing a shoulder niggle which forced him to miss RCB’s previous clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). According to reports, it is understood that Hazlewood will spend another week in Australia before joining RCB for the IPL 2025 playoffs, starting May 29. This means he will miss RCB’s remaining three league games.
Echoing on the same lines, Mo Bobat also confirmed that Hazlewood is currently in Australia during the pre-match press conference ahead of their clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) tomorrow (May 17).
“With Josh [Hazlewood], he’s our only player not here at the moment. He’s recovering from his shoulder niggle that he had. He’s doing that with Cricket Australia. Our medical team and their medical teams have been liaising on what that detail looks like and he’s just taking that day by day and he’s trying to improve his shot,” Bobat said.
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On the other hand, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar had injured his finger in the CSK clash. He was spotted wearing a splint and was initially doubtful for the season. However, the one-week suspension gave Rajat some added time to recover, and he returned to the nets as well.
While his exact return date is unknown yet, Bobat highlighted that Patidar is recovering well.
“Rajat’s going well. He had an injury to his hand, but he’s been building up ever so slowly. For him personally, probably the disruption gave him a few more days just to get through some of that early healing, and for the swelling to go down, and for him to get used to picking up a bat again. He’s practiced the last few days and he’s going well,” Bobat confirmed.
Given his recent net sessions, Patidar may be used as an impact player for the league-stage games and can play a full match during the IPL 2025 playoffs if RCB qualifies.
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