The team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has been in blistering form while playing away from home in the ongoing IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League) season. However, their winning streak was broken on Friday when they lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Notably, RCB faced SRH in Lucknow on May 23, and SRH successfully played the role of party spoilers. Given that the Hyderabad franchise scored a whopping 231 runs, Bengaluru’s bowling squad clearly missed their frontline pacer.
In the same vein, Mohammad Kaif, a former India player and cricket specialist, commented on RCB’s defeat. He made a big statement, claiming that the franchise lacked the services of great Australian bowler Josh Hazlewood. Interestingly, Hazlewood missed the last two games, during which RCB conceded more over 200 runs. His substitute, Lungi Ngidi, bowled brilliantly against the Chennai Super Kings, taking three wickets, but proved expensive against SRH.
“Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal looked excellent when bowling alongside Hazlewood, but without him, things look different. They miss him at the moment. If Hazlewood is unable to recover in time and remains sidelined, RCB will struggle to win the competition in its latter stages. “Not having Hazlewood is like having your right hand cut off,” he said.
Watch Mohammad Kaif’s latest video explaining Hazlewood situation here:
Can RCB reach top 2 without Hazlewood? pic.twitter.com/hE6GdbgIJd
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 23, 2025
Ngidi is expected to leave IPL early for WTC final commitments.
Meanwhile, RCB is likely to suffer a further setback as Lungi Ngidi is expected to leave the IPL 2025 and head to England, where South Africa will face Australia in the grand World Test Championship (WTC 2025) final at Lord’s, which begins on June 11.
Although Bengaluru may still finish in the top two of the IPL points table, they are hoping Hazlewood will recover in time. Notably, the Australian fast is presently recovering from a shoulder issue in Brisbane and wants to join the RCB camp shortly before the playoff round begins.
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