Royal Challengers Bengaluru director Mo Bobat revealed that the team’s medical staff played a crucial role in ensuring Josh Hazlewood returned when IPL 2025 resumed after a one-week break. The Australian pacer, who was bought for Rs 12.50 crore in the mega auction, emerged as RCB’s frontline bowler. However, he suffered a shoulder niggle just before the mid-season break, which not only forced him to sit out of a couple of games but also cast aspersions on his availability for the remainder of matches.
How RCB managed to get Hazlewood back
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Bobat revealed that convincing Hazlewood to return when IPL 2025 wasn’t an easy task as it wasn’t just the India-Pakistan conflict that had to be taken into account. The RCB director said that the case was “complicated” as Cricket Australia might have contemplated resting the star to let him recover from the shoulder niggle so that he would be fit for the World Test Championship final. The RCB official credited the team’s medical staff for coordinating perfectly with Cricket Australia to ensure the bowler returned to the side when the league resumed.
“In Josh’s case, it was a bit more complicated because it wasn’t just the conflict. We were mindful that he might go back to Australia, he might rest his shoulder for a bit. Cricket Australia might go, ‘OK, let’s now get him ready for the Test Championship Final.’ They were all real things we were dealing with. Our medical team did an excellent job liaising with Cricket Australia’s medical team and they were speaking anyway through the season on a regular basis,” Bobat said.
Hazlewood finished IPL 2025 as RCB’s leading wicket-taker, having bagged 22 scalps from 12 matches. After spending a month on the sidelines since April 27, the pacer finally returned to action on May 29. Thereafter, he played two games against PBKS, including the IPL 2025 final in which he picked up 4 wickets combined. Hazlewood did play a crucial role in guiding RCB to their maiden IPL title.
