Credit: Twitter
Royal Challengers Bangalore had their fourth win of the season when they won by seven runs against Rajasthan Royals on April 23. So far their bowling lineup has struggled except for Mohammad Siraj, who has bowled exceedingly well and almost single-handedly carried their lineup. The fast bowling unit is missing Josh Hazlewood, who is out with an injury. However, stand-in captain Virat Kohli gave an update on the Aussie's availability after the win against RR.
Hazlewood suffered an Achilles tendonitis injury during the test series against South Africa. He flew home after the series and missed the ODI series and the Border Gavaskar trophy. After the win against Sanju Samson’s RR, stand-in captain Virat Kohli heaped praise on Mohammad Siraj’s bowling so far and talked about Hazlewood's availability.
Kolhi told the broadcasters, "Siraj was phenomenal, he's got Buttler out in the past and he's bowling as well as I've ever seen him doing. Running in with the new ball and he shows intent and confidence, he has the Purple Cap for that reason. He's leading the line-up and hopefully, Josh comes in the next game."
The captain continued as he praised Harshal Patel on his death bowling but admitted that with Hazlewood their bowling attack can become even better.
"Harshal always bowls the difficult overs, it's not easy at Chinnaswamy. He's closed out matches against DC and today as well for us. So great credit to the way he has performed. We trust him to perform at the death. Whenever Hazlewood comes in, we might look like a different attack," Kohli added.
The bowling coach also provided an update on Hazlewood recently as he said, "He stayed in Bangalore to continue with his preparation, and is going really well. He has got a couple of things to tick off for Cricket Australia to sign off so that he is available to play."
Hazlewood is waiting for clearance from Cricket Australia and with the Ashes and the World Test Championship Final coming up they will want him fully fit. The pace bowler will be a great addition to RCB and is likely to replace David Willey in the lineup.