Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been dealt with a blow even before the start of IPL 2026, with Josh Hazlewood set to miss the first few matches. The Australian, who is recovering from multiple injuries, was the spearhead of the defending champions’ pace attack in IPL 2025 and was arguably their best bowler. However, now RCB are tasked with filling his void and have very limited options.
Apart from Hazlewood, RCB will not be able to acquire the services of Yash Dayal as the alleged rape accused has been ruled out of the entire tournament already. Nuwan Thushara has not been granted a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the Sri Lanka Cricket as he has failed to clear the fitness test. Therefore, RCB are left in a serious fix.
Who can replace Hazlewood in RCB?
While Mangesh Yadav is most likely to replace Dayal in RCB’s line-up, the only two options that RCB have for replacing Hazlewood are Rasikh Dar and Jacob Duffy. Duffy, who was bought for Rs 2 crore in the mini-auction, has had a rather poor run in the shortest format of the game recently. He featured in 5 T20 World Cup 2026 matches for New Zealand, where he managed to bag just 3 wickets while having conceded 163 runs in the 15 overs that he bowled, with an average over 50. He is the only other overseas pace bowling option that RCB have in terms of replacing Hazlewood. But, by no means is he a like-for-like replacement for the Australian pacer. Besides, he has never played in the IPL previously.
Rasikh Salam Dar is another option. The bowler, who has played for 4 teams in the IPL thus far since his debut in 2019, featured in just 2 games for RCB in IPL 2025 where he picked just 1 wicket while conceding 70 runs off the 36 deliveries that he bowled. There is no question about his ability to swing the ball, which makes him a good option to replace Hazlewood. However, he was quite expensive and quite ineffective in terms of picking wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025 and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Therefore, RCB have no real answers as to who can be Hazlewood’s like-for-like replacement. Instead, it looks like the team will have to bet on other underperforming stars to help them pull through the first three or four games in IPL 2026 before the Australian pacer joins the side.
The Australian pacer finished as RCB’s leading wicket-taker in IPL 2025. With 22 wickets from 12 matches, Hazlewood was not only the spearhead of RCB’s pace department but was also their go-to bowler when the team needed wickets. He averaged 17.54 with the ball.
