RCB handed huge Josh Hazlewood blow days ahead of IPL 2023 match against MI

Two nights before their IPL 2023 opener against five-time champions Mumbai Indians at home, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have been handed a major blow as fast bowler Josh Hazlewood lifted the lid on his availability for the season amid reports of injury.

The Australia pacer is set to miss the entire first half of the 2023 IPL season due to an Achilles (heel) problem, as confirmed by Hazelwood, who revealed that he would reach India by April 14 and then take another week's time to be match-fit.

"Everything is ticking along according to plan, so I'll be heading over on the 14th (of April) depending on how the next two weeks go," Hazlewood was quoted as saying by The Age.

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"I probably won't be quite ready to go right then, but (after) another week in India to touch things up skills wise I should be ready to go hopefully."

Hazlewood also added that the IPL will provide him a platform to check his fitness for availability for the Ashes series, having earlier missed the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India.

"You don't need a lot of workload for T20. It's more just ticking off those boxes of getting up to speed and pushing back in the run-up. I'm probably only going to need to do one or two sessions at full pace and then I'm probably good to play.

"T20 is a lot different to Test and even one-day cricket. You only need 20 balls at full pace and that's pretty close to a game, which is a good thing," he said.

Hazlewood is now waiting for his fitness clearance from Cricket Australia before departing for India.

"It's a niggly one, the Achilles tendon. It's a slow process but it thrives on a bit of work, and I'd have to be bowling to prepare for the Ashes, so it may as well be in a game of cricket," Hazlewood said.

Meanwhile, RCB will also miss Glenn Maxwell in their opener against MI as he is yet to fully regain strength post leg fracture.