Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been on the sidelines for quite some time now due to hamstring and Achilles tendon injuries. He was first ruled out of the Ashes 2025-26 campaign and then also missed out on the T20 World Cup 2026, where Australia eventually crashed out early, not even making it to the Super 8s.
However, it was believed that the experienced speedster would recover in time and travel to India for the upcoming 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, it has now been reliably learnt that the 35-year-old remains under physio care, and his participation in IPL 2026 will ultimately depend on whether he receives clearance.
Sources have confirmed to Hindustan Times that Hazlewood is still awaiting clearance from the medical team and will join the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad only when he receives the go-ahead.
“He is still under the physio care, and his participation in the IPL depends on whether he gets the clearance or not. There’s still plenty of time, but it’s a wait-and-watch situation for now,” a source privy to developments confirmed to Hindustan Times.
Hazlewood was the standout performer for RCB last season, and it was his spells that brought the franchise into the contest time and time again. In 12 matches, he returned with 22 wickets. His performance went a long way toward ensuring that the Rajat Patidar-led franchise won the tournament for the first time, ending Virat Kohli’s 18-year wait.
The right-arm pacer had hurt his right hamstring while playing for New South Wales in November and was first ruled out of the first Ashes Test in Perth at first. He was expected to play a part in the series, but a fresh Achilles injury ruled him out of the entire Ashes and, subsequently, the T20 World Cup.
Same situation
SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Pat Cummins is also on the same boat, as he also remains under the care of the physio. The entire Australian summer saw the workload of Australia’s Test and ODI captain managed due to a back injury. He only played the one Ashes Test in Adelaide, and once the series was secured, the team management decided not to risk Cummins for the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
Cummins missed the first two Tests in Perth and Brisbane as well, and only came back to the side for the third match in Adelaide. In his absence, Steve Smith led the side. He was expected to be fit for the T20 World Cup, but just 10 days before the tournament began, the selectors confirmed that the 32-year-old had been ruled out of the 20-team competition.
Ahead of the IPL 2026, Cummins is being monitored by the medical team, and he’s on the same boat as Hazlewood as far as participation goes.
“Same with Pat as well. He, too, is being monitored by the physio,” the source confirmed.
The schedule for the first 16 days of IPL 2026 was announced earlier this week, with the tournament opener set for March 28 between RCB and SRHat the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Here are the full RCB and SRH squads:
RCB: Rajat Patidar (captain), Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Jacob Bethell, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Salam, Abhinandan Singh, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Duffy, Satvik Deswal, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan.
SRH: Pat Cummins (captain), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, R. Smaran, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Kamindu Mendis, Harshal Patel, Brydon Carse, Jaydev Unadkat, Eshan Malinga, Zeeshan Ansari, Shivang Kumar, Salil Arora, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Krains Fuletra, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards.