‘Finally, he is back!’ – Twitter buzzes as Josh Hazlewood makes his first appearance of IPL 2023 for RCB against LSG

Josh Hazlewood featured in 12 matches and got 20 wickets in IPL 2022.

Published - 01 May 2023, 19:55 IST | Updated - 01 May 2023, 19:48 IST

13 Min Read

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) named Josh Hazelwood in the their XI ahead of the clash against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). Notably, the two sides square off at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday, May 1.

During the toss, Faf du Plessis, who recovered from a rib injury that forced him to just act juts as a batter in the previous fixtures, returned as the skipper of the franchise. Interestingly, Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood is set to play his first match of the ongoing IPL 2023 as he joins the setup in place of injured David Willey.

Notably, Willey endured a blow to his toe while batting in RCB’s game against KKR at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, April 26, which they eventually lost. The franchise confirmed that the pacer fractured his toe and also suffered an adductor strain.

With Hazlewood in the XI, RCB will look to come all guns blazing against Lucknow in their ninth assignment of the season. The pacer was roped in by the franchise in the mega-auction in 2022 for INR 7.75 crore and featured in 12 matches. He relished a fine campaign as he got 20 wickets to his name with his best spell being 4/25 and an impressive economy of 8.11.

RCB eye fifth win of the season

Apart from the overseas change, RCB included the services of Anuj Rawat thereby dropping Shahbaz Ahmed from the XI. However, Shahbaz has been included in the Impact Players list which also features the return of Michael Bracewell.

After making the right call at the toss, Faf decided to put up a total for the first innings in the high-octane clash. Notably, RCB lost the match in their previous meeting on April 10 and will be raring to avoid handing LSG, a double in the 16^th edition.

Speaking about their campaign thus far, RCB have won four and lost as many in their eight outings and are placed sixth in the IPL Points Table. On the other hand, LSG have five wins and three losses in their eight outings and are placed second in the table.

Here is how Twitter buzzed with Josh Hazlewood's inclusion-

CricTracker@Cricketracker

Faf du Plessis returns as RCB's captain, he decides to bat first after winning the toss against LSG. RCB: Josh Hazlewood is all set to play his first match. Anuj Rawat comes in for Shahbaz Ahmed LSG: Avesh Khan misses out & Krishnappa Gowtham replaces him.

07:24 PM · May 01, 2023

124

Akshat@AkshatOM10

Josh Hazlewood is back to RCB.❤️ #RCBvsLSG

07:04 PM · May 01, 2023

140

Kerryn Rohit@KerrynRohit

Finally Josh Hazlewood is back for @RCBTweets

07:28 PM · May 01, 2023

- Nolo.@__nxlo

Josh Hazlewood back in the squad, I'm happy. 🙂

07:25 PM · May 01, 2023

Aabirbhav Basu@aabirbhav54

Josh Hazlewood Is Back To Further Stabilise The Bowling Unit!🤩 #RCBvLSG #IPL2023

07:40 PM · May 01, 2023

S. Sudarshanan@Sudarshanan7

Looking forward to watch Josh Hazlewood back on the park tonight. Has been out of action for far too long, hopefully a memorable return. #LSGvRCB #IPL2023

07:21 PM · May 01, 2023

Anwar~@anwar_aafat

Josh Hazlewood is back to RCB.❤️ #TATAIPL #RCBVSLSG

07:22 PM · May 01, 2023

Nikhil Ram@Nikhil_Rams

Woohoo!!! Glad that Josh Hazlewood is back for @RCBTweets #LSGvRCB twitter.com/ipl/status/165…

IndianPremierLeague

@IPL

The Playing XIs are in! What do you make of the two sides today in the #LSGvRCB clash? Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/jbDXvbwuzm #TATAIPL | #LSGvRCB