The morning after Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s last-ball victory over Mumbai Indians in Raipur, Josh Hazlewood is already in recovery mode. After working through his routine at the team hotel—golf included—he walks into a coffee shop with the calm of someone tracking progress, not just time.
There’s a fitness tracker on one wrist and a smartwatch on the other. Back in Australia, the support staff can likely cross-check recovery metrics and workload trends. Yet for Hazlewood, the numbers are only part of the picture; how the body feels still carries real weight.
“Sometimes the best recovery is to keep moving,” Hazlewood says. “The longer you sit still, the more you stiffen up. People have different ways to switch off—pickleball and padel have become popular. And occasionally it’s simply about getting away from the sport mentally.”
He adds that the IPL calendar creates its own kind of downtime. “You’re here for 14 games, but you’re only actually on the field for about 24 hours across ten weeks, so there’s plenty of idle time. Some players overthink in their rooms and almost rehearse the match in their heads before it arrives. So there’s definitely a balance you have to maintain.”
Injury hurdles and getting back to rhythm
- Hazlewood is recovering after a run of lower-body issues, including a right hamstring strain and Achilles soreness.
- Those problems kept him out of the Ashes and the T20 World Cup.
- He says his current condition feels close to full readiness, with only small niggles rather than major setbacks.
- He believes his match rhythm has improved after playing a number of games in succession.
That “balance” has mattered even more for Hazlewood over the past few months. A series of lower-body problems—including a hamstring strain on the right side and soreness in his Achilles—forced him to miss both the Ashes and the T20 World Cup.
With big matches off the schedule, the recovery process turned into a mental as well as physical project. Sitting here after the recent win, he says he feels encouraged by the progress being made.
“Yeah, I feel like it’s getting close,” Hazlewood says. “There’s always something small bothering you, but right now things are going pretty well. It was a tough stretch over the Australian summer—I missed some major cricket, and that was frustrating. The positive is that when you’re fit, you’ve still got opportunities to play.”
He also points to rhythm rather than only readiness. “I feel like the rhythm’s pretty good now. I’ve played a fair few games back-to-back, so I trust what the body is doing. Even though it’s ‘only’ four overs per game, the intensity is sky-high, and everything is feeling in a pretty good place.”
What’s impressed him with his IPL spells
- Hazlewood hasn’t repeated the dominance of IPL 2025, but has produced standout flashes.
- Notable figures include 4 for 12 vs Delhi Capitals at Kotla and 1 for 20 vs Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana.
Hazlewood admits he hasn’t exactly matched the dominant level he showed in IPL 2025. Even so, he’s had moments that underline his threat, including a spell of 4 for 12 against Delhi Capitals at Kotla and another of 1 for 20 versus Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana.
Still, the spells he values most don’t always come from conditions doing the heavy lifting. What he prizes are the overs where he has to battle back after being hit early—like the match against Mumbai Indians in Raipur. In the opening over, he conceded 16, with Rohit Sharma striking two fours and a six off it. Yet Hazlewood steadied the innings and finished with 1 for 33 in his four overs.
“There are certain spells that come to mind,” he says, “but I’m probably more proud of the efforts where you fight back. If you’re bowling on a flat wicket and you go for 2 for 40 while everyone else is going for 50 or 60, those are the games that feel satisfying.”
He describes how momentum changes the emotional tone of a spell. “When things are going your way—like the Delhi game this year with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and me—it’s not that difficult. You’re landing good balls and you’ve built momentum. But if the batting side is dominant and your first over goes for 20, then you have to respond—yorkers, changes of pace—and still finish with decent figures. Those are the matches I’m most proud of.”
Partnership with Bhuvneshwar and the “base covered” idea
- Hazlewood credits RCB’s control to the partnership with Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
- They generated death-over pressure against Punjab Kings, conceding 28 runs in the final four overs.
- In that same stretch, they hit eight yorkers and restricted PBKS to 157.
At Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Hazlewood’s growth as a death specialist is tied closely to the work he shares with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They are different in how they attack, but together they help the side stay disciplined across phases.
One match that stood out came against Punjab Kings—their opponent on Sunday in IPL 2025. Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar delivered a high-pressure death session, allowing only 28 runs across the last four overs and repeatedly landing yorkers under stress. Across that period, they combined for eight yorkers and ultimately kept Punjab Kings to a total of 157.
Hazlewood compares the dynamic to bowling with Australian fast-bowling partners. “It’s a bit like bowling with Patty and Starcy for Australia,” he says. “Bhuvi probably pitches it up a little more and swings the ball. I can hit the seam and get a bit of bounce. It’s nice to have that balance in the attack. Last year and this year, we’ve had a good mix.”
He also notes how roles have been covered in the current squad. “We don’t have Yash Dayal this year with that left-arm angle, but Rasikh Dar has stepped into the role nicely. Then we’ve got a legspinner and a left-arm spinner. It starts to feel like Australia—every base is covered. If you’ve got three bowlers with the same style, batters can read things pretty quickly. Having different skills and different approaches makes it harder.”
Fast-bowling fundamentals in a changing T20 world
- Hazlewood says the season has reinforced the worth of traditional fast-bowling methods.
- He believes mental advantage in T20 can swing the feeling of an innings dramatically.
Hazlewood also believes this IPL season has underlined the value of conventional fast-bowling skill, even as T20 cricket chases novelty. “I think trends come and go,” he says. “They can last a whole tournament or just three or four games. Conditions play a huge role. Batters are probably getting ahead of bowlers a little bit at the moment.”
He explains how the mental battle shapes shot-making. “In T20, if you’re ahead of the batter mentally, it can feel like the easiest game in the world. If you’re behind, it can feel impossible. That can be the difference between going after six runs in an over and chasing 25.”
Hazlewood points to evolving batting tactics as well. “Some batters are trying to win the battle in the first couple of deliveries of the over. Sometimes the less you change, the better. Other times you have to change more. It’s a big game of cat and mouse.”
RCB’s title memory and the final over drill
- Hazlewood reflects on last year’s IPL final against Punjab Kings in Ahmedabad where RCB defended 190.
- He bowled the last over after the title was effectively secured from the first two balls.
- His focus was on key details: foot behind the line, avoiding wides, and staying clear of no-balls.
Perhaps no match captured that “cat and mouse” tension more than last year’s IPL final, again against Punjab Kings, this time in Ahmedabad. RCB pulled off the sensational defence of 190, and Hazlewood found himself entrusted with the final over when the result was already turning in RCB’s favour after the first two balls.
When he thinks back, he says he remembers very little beyond a repeated checklist. “Keep my foot behind the line, don’t bowl a wide, don’t bowl a no-ball,” he recalls thinking. “Wherever it lands, it lands. The result was basically done after the first two balls, so it was just about ticking off those small things. I was probably not bowling great deliveries at the end, but it didn’t really matter.”
Emotions, experience, and a calmer RCB
- Hazlewood says the win felt especially meaningful because he had also won an IPL title with Chennai Super Kings in 2021.
- He believes RCB’s current environment is calmer than it was after he left in 2023 and returned in 2025.
- He feels the team has not yet produced its best cricket in a complete game, despite being near the top of the table.
The aftermath of that win carried raw emotion, Hazlewood says, and it felt extra special for him personally. He had been part of an IPL triumph with Chennai Super Kings in 2021, but this one carried its own weight—especially for the people around the franchise.
“It was special for me to do it for the guys who’ve been here for 18 years,” he says. “Some of the support staff had been waiting a long time without much reward, so it was great to win one there. At CSK, winning finals almost felt normal—like it was just another year where we were in the final or winning it. Here, it felt like the franchise had really earned that first one.”
He also looks at the current season with a clear-eyed mindset. “This year, I still feel like we haven’t played our best cricket in one complete game yet, even though we’re on top of the table somehow. Last year, we built nicely towards the back end, so hopefully we can do that again.”
Finally, Hazlewood points to the biggest difference between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru he left after 2023 and the one he returned to in 2025. “I think there’s a lot more calmness around the group now,” he says. “The squad is more experienced, and there are really seasoned people both in the playing group and the support staff. Earlier, it probably felt like a rollercoaster based purely on results. Now it feels more level and process-driven rather than emotional.”
