The morning after Royal Challengers Bengaluru\u2019s last-ball victory over Mumbai Indians in Raipur, Josh Hazlewood is already in recovery mode. After working through his routine at the team hotel\u2014golf included\u2014he walks into a coffee shop with the calm of someone tracking progress, not just time.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes the best recovery is to keep moving,\u201d Hazlewood says. \u201cThe longer you sit still, the more you stiffen up. People have different ways to switch off\u2014pickleball and padel have become popular. And occasionally it\u2019s simply about getting away from the sport mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds that the IPL calendar creates its own kind of downtime. \u201cYou\u2019re here for 14 games, but you\u2019re only actually on the field for about 24 hours across ten weeks, so there\u2019s plenty of idle time. Some players overthink in their rooms and almost rehearse the match in their heads before it arrives. So there\u2019s definitely a balance you have to maintain.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201cbalance\u201d has mattered even more for Hazlewood over the past few months. A series of lower-body problems\u2014including a hamstring strain on the right side and soreness in his Achilles\u2014forced him to miss both the Ashes and the T20 World Cup.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I feel like it\u2019s getting close,\u201d Hazlewood says. \u201cThere\u2019s always something small bothering you, but right now things are going pretty well. It was a tough stretch over the Australian summer\u2014I missed some major cricket, and that was frustrating. The positive is that when you\u2019re fit, you\u2019ve still got opportunities to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also points to rhythm rather than only readiness. \u201cI feel like the rhythm\u2019s pretty good now. I\u2019ve played a fair few games back-to-back, so I trust what the body is doing. Even though it\u2019s \u2018only\u2019 four overs per game, the intensity is sky-high, and everything is feeling in a pretty good place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hazlewood admits he hasn\u2019t exactly matched the dominant level he showed in IPL 2025. Even so, he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Still, the spells he values most don\u2019t always come from conditions doing the heavy lifting. What he prizes are the overs where he has to battle back after being hit early\u2014like 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are certain spells that come to mind,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I\u2019m probably more proud of the efforts where you fight back. If you\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He describes how momentum changes the emotional tone of a spell. \u201cWhen things are going your way\u2014like the Delhi game this year with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and me\u2014it\u2019s not that difficult. You\u2019re landing good balls and you\u2019ve built momentum. But if the batting side is dominant and your first over goes for 20, then you have to respond\u2014yorkers, changes of pace\u2014and still finish with decent figures. Those are the matches I\u2019m most proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Hazlewood\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
One match that stood out came against Punjab Kings\u2014their 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.<\/p>\n
Hazlewood compares the dynamic to bowling with Australian fast-bowling partners. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like bowling with Patty and Starcy for Australia,\u201d he says. \u201cBhuvi probably pitches it up a little more and swings the ball. I can hit the seam and get a bit of bounce. It\u2019s nice to have that balance in the attack. Last year and this year, we\u2019ve had a good mix.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also notes how roles have been covered in the current squad. \u201cWe don\u2019t have Yash Dayal this year with that left-arm angle, but Rasikh Dar has stepped into the role nicely. Then we\u2019ve got a legspinner and a left-arm spinner. It starts to feel like Australia\u2014every base is covered. If you\u2019ve got three bowlers with the same style, batters can read things pretty quickly. Having different skills and different approaches makes it harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hazlewood also believes this IPL season has underlined the value of conventional fast-bowling skill, even as T20 cricket chases novelty. \u201cI think trends come and go,\u201d he says. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explains how the mental battle shapes shot-making. \u201cIn T20, if you\u2019re ahead of the batter mentally, it can feel like the easiest game in the world. If you\u2019re behind, it can feel impossible. That can be the difference between going after six runs in an over and chasing 25.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hazlewood points to evolving batting tactics as well. \u201cSome 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\u2019s a big game of cat and mouse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps no match captured that \u201ccat and mouse\u201d tension more than last year\u2019s 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\u2019s favour after the first two balls.<\/p>\n
When he thinks back, he says he remembers very little beyond a repeated checklist. \u201cKeep my foot behind the line, don\u2019t bowl a wide, don\u2019t bowl a no-ball,\u201d he recalls thinking. \u201cWherever 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\u2019t really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2014especially for the people around the franchise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was special for me to do it for the guys who\u2019ve been here for 18 years,\u201d he says. \u201cSome 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\u2014like 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also looks at the current season with a clear-eyed mindset. \u201cThis year, I still feel like we haven\u2019t played our best cricket in one complete game yet, even though we\u2019re on top of the table somehow. Last year, we built nicely towards the back end, so hopefully we can do that again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, Hazlewood points to the biggest difference between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru he left after 2023 and the one he returned to in 2025. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot more calmness around the group now,\u201d he says. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The morning after Royal Challengers Bengaluru\u2019s last-ball victory over Mumbai Indians in Raipur, Josh Hazlewood is already in recovery mode. After working through his routine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL Update: Hazlewood Recovery After RCB vs MI Win","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Josh Hazlewood is already in recovery mode after RCB\u2019s win over Mumbai Indians, monitoring fitness metrics closely as he targets a quick return.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n