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The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28.
Ahead of the league, Royal Challengers Bengaluru`s (RCB) head coach Andy Flower provided an update on the availability of star pacer Josh Hazlewood for the first game.
Speaking about the pacer, the head coach said that he looks younger and he has worked hard to regain his full fitness.
“Hazlewood arrived yesterday. He`s looking fit. I did comment to him that he looks even younger than I remember him, so he`s enjoyed some good downtime, but he`s worked hard to get himself back up to full fitness. It`s great to have him here. It`s even great to have him here in our dressing room and in the meetings,” he said.
The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on March 28 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Further speaking, the head coach stated that Hazlewood won`t be making his appearance for the first match, and the management will be monitoring his fitness.
“He won`t be ready for tomorrow, because he`s just got off the plane, and we`ll be monitoring his fitness very closely and looking forward to him making his entrance into the IPL,” said Flower.
Earlier, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary, Santosh Menon, confirmed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will host five of the RCB`s IPL 2026 home games. The venue will also host one of the play-off matches and the title clash of the tournament.
Bengaluru`s remaining two home matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
IPL 2026, Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Full Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Phil Salt (WK), Rajat Patidar (C), Nuwan Thushara, Romario Shepherd, Tim David, Devdutt Padikkal, Yash Dayal, Rasikh Salam, Jordan Cox, Jacob Bethell, Vicky Ostwal, Mangesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Travis Head, Liam Livingstone, Ishan Kishan (WK), Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, Zeeshan Ansari, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Jack Edwards, Harsh Dubey, Salil Arora (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Amit Kumar, Praful Hinge, Smaran Ravichandran, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Aniket Verma, Shivang Kumar, Krains Bhaveshbhai Fuletra, Omkar Tarmale.
(With ANI Inputs)
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