Josh Hazlewood returns to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) playing XI in their third game of Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) against Rajasthan Royals on Frida. The Australian pacer missed the first two games despite joining the squad earlier on as he was still recovering from multiple injuries. Hazlewood replaces Jacob Duffy in RCB’s playing XI while RR have made one change, with Brijesh Sharma replacing Tushar Deshpande.
RR vs RCB playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma
Impact Subs: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood
Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer
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.
Meanwhile, Viabhav Suryavanshi, who has scored 52, 39 and 31 with the ball has been named as an impact player for RR in the game against RCB. There is no doubt that he will surely open the innings for RR in the contest.
The start of the game between RR and RCB has been delayed due to rain. The Royals habe won the toss and opted to bowl first.
