IPL 2026: Is Josh Hazlewood playing in RR vs RCB Match 16?

Published - 10 Apr 2026, 19:55 IST | Updated - 10 Apr 2026, 20:11 IST

Rajasthan Royals (RR) are set to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match No. 16 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 on April 10 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. RR have made an excellent start to the season and currently sit at the top of the points table with three consecutive wins. Meanwhile, RCB have also been impressive, remaining unbeaten with two wins and looking to continue their strong momentum.

Riyan Parag, captain of Rajasthan Royals, won the toss and elected to bowl first. He mentioned that there has been rain over the past few days, which could leave moisture in the pitch, and his team would look to make the most of those conditions early on. Meanwhile, Rajat Patidar, skipper of Royal Challengers Bengaluru, said it is their first away game of the season and thanked the crowd for making it feel like a home venue despite being away.

RCB made a significant change to their playing XI by bringing in Josh Hazlewood in place of Jacob Duffy. Hazlewood, returning from injury, will be keen to make an immediate impact and take advantage of the helpful pitch conditions. On the other hand, RR also made one change, with Brijesh Sharma coming into the side in place of Tushar Deshpande.

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. Feels great. I think we've been very clinical before the start of the tournament. My message to the team was that we want to be a really pure team that plays really strategic cricket, really smart cricket. So hopefully we keep on assessing and adapting as we have been in the first three games and hopefully come up with really good points. Tushar takes a rest and Brijesh comes in. I think it's a fresh start. I told them when we won against Mumbai, as soon as the sun came up, it was past. And we need to forget about that. That's what Sanga said before we left the hotel as well. All the three games, that's in the past. Today we've got to perform. If we don't, we lose two points and we don't want to do that. I mean, as long as they keep on going, I'm happy. I'm happy with this batting. I'm happy with this whole. So yeah, hopefully they keep on going.

This is the first away game. Thanks to everyone. You are making us feel that it is a home crowd. We all love you. Unfortunately, Duffy misses out this game. Josh Hazlewood is in the team in place of Duffy. Duffy also bowled brilliantly in the last two games. We know Josh is an experienced player. His presence will definitely put us in a good frame of mind.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma

Impact Players: Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Tushar Deshpande, Ravi Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood

Impact Players: Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Kanishk Chouhan