New Delhi, May 27 (H.S.): In the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Josh Hazlewood has become as crucial for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as Jasprit Bumrah is for Mumbai Indians and Team India. With his precise bowling, Hazlewood has strengthened RCB's bowling unit, and now expectations will be high from him in the important match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

The Australian pacer Hazlewood has taken 7 wickets in the power play and 6 wickets in the death overs (the last 4 overs) this season. His economy rate has been 7.22 and 9.04 respectively, which is considered excellent for any bowler in this phase. Notably, Hazlewood has spent only 26.86 percent of his team's total runs in the power play, even though he bowls at least two overs in this phase in every match.

When RCB faces LSG on Tuesday at Ekana Stadium, Hazlewood's return will bring relief to the team. To stop the LSG team that performed excellently against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, RCB will need to secure an early wicket with this star fast bowler. Before the suspension of the season, Hazlewood had taken the most wickets (6) in the power play in his first over.

After a 42-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad, English batsman Phil Salt acknowledged that RCB was close to victory. He said, “We did many good things while chasing the target. Most of the time the margins were very narrow. But today there was no room for error.”

This match is an opportunity for RCB to prepare for the playoffs and keep hopes of reaching the top-2 alive. For this, the team will need to come up with a precise strategy on all fronts, and Hazlewood's role will once again be decisive.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar