The star pacer of the RCB, Josh Hazlewood was out from their key IPL 2026 match against Mumbai Indians (MI) which was at the Wankhede Stadium. This decision by the defending champions come after they lost their previous last match against Rajasthan Royals. The paceman Hazlewood was making a comeback after a long break when he last played for the RCB against RR. However he was not comfortable while playing in that match, despite taking 2 wickets. In his 4 overs, he went for 44 runs, especially when the youngster Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was able to hit him from the word go. Fitness Management and Workload Control Behind the Decision There is no report from RCB if there is an injury for their star paceman Josh Hazlewood. There is no confirm that it is a recurring injury to the bowler. It is likely that workload management has lead to this decision, especially with the bowler recently back after being out for so long since November. It seems that team is taking proper care of the bowlers, taking two matches in a short span of three days at the initial stages of the tournament may be dangerous and more likely to increase the chances of injury. Also Read | Why are Mumbai Indians player wearing black arms bands against Royal Challengers Bengaluru? How RCB Bowling Looks without Hazlewood This would have been a blow to the bowling attack. Hazlewood was a very important bowler for RCB last season with 22 wickets under his belt often bowling well under pressure. Without him, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma had the task of leading the bowling attack against a formidable batting lineup of MI. Often when such questions arise, one would hear experts mention that Hazlewood gives RCB control in powerplay and death overs. Mumbai Indians' batting attack included the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya to further pile the pressure on the RCB bowlers. MI and RCB Playing XIs Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma