In a major boost for defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), star Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood made his much-awaited return to the playing XI for their IPL 2026 clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Friday.
After missing the initial matches of the IPL 2026 season due to recovery protocols monitored by Cricket Australia, Hazlewood’s return provides a massive boost to the RCB’s bowling arsenal. He replaced impressive but relatively inexperienced Jacob Duffy in the RCB playing XI, adding much-needed experience and precision to a pace attack that has already looked sharp this season.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar welcomed the move, noting that the experienced spearhead’s presence would strengthen the bowling attack and boost team morale.
“Unfortunately, Duffy misses out in this game. Josh in the place of Duffy. Duffy also bowled brilliantly in the last game. But everyone knows Josh is an experienced player, specialist. But I think his presence will definitely put us in a good frame of mind, I think,” said Patidar at the toss.
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r RR vs RCB Clash
Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bowl first, citing moisture in the pitch after recent rains. The decision aims to exploit early conditions before the surface potentially settles.
“We’re going to be bowling. It was supposed to be a dry wicket, but it has been raining for the last couple of days and rained a bit today as well. So there’s going to be a little moisture. We’re trying to extract it, but seems like a really good wicket,” said Parag at the toss.
RR made one change, bringing in Brijesh Sharma as Tushar Deshpande rested. On the other hand, RCB’s batting remains formidable with the likes of Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, and Devdutt Padikkal in form, while their bowling gains depth with Hazlewood’s inclusion alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar and others.
Unbeaten Streaks On The Line
Rajasthan Royals have surged to the top of the IPL 2026 standings after winning all three of their matches so far, with victories over Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, and Mumbai Indians.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru head into the contest on the back of consecutive wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai.
Lineup For RR vs RCB IPL 2026 Clash
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer
Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood
