IPL 2026: Why is Josh Hazlewood not playing MI vs RCB Match 20?

Published - 12 Apr 2026, 19:06 IST | Updated - 12 Apr 2026, 19:19 IST

Mumbai Indians (MI) are hosting Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 20 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 12. Both teams made changes to their lineups from the respective previous clashes, but the biggest miss in the game is ace pacer Josh Hazlewood, with fans curious on why the Australian cricketer is not featuring in the all-important fixture.

Speaking of the coin flip, the toss went in favour of hosts Mumbai Indians, as the five-time champions opted to take the field first, inviting the Rajat Patidar-led side to bat first on a surface that has shown the tendency to get better for batters. The defending champions entered the field with their usual opening pair of Virat Kohli and Philip Salt.

At the toss, the host skipper Hardik confirmed that AM Ghazanfar and Deepak Chahar made way for the likes of Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande. On the other hand, Patidar did not explain why Hazlewood is missing from playing in the contest, but it could be due to his ongoing workload management. He has been replaced by New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy for this clash.

We’re going to bowl first. Looks like a good track. We played the first game on the other pitch, this looks similar. It’s always good to bat second here. I think it’s a big game. Just want to come out and play our best cricket, do the things we’ve spoken about in the meetings, and just enjoy the sport. We requested good wickets and we’ve been getting them. As long as you land the ball right as a bowler and play the right shots as a batter, you’re in the game. Over the years at Wankhede, chasing has worked for a lot of teams. Being our home ground, dew comes in later as well. So it’s good to know what you’re chasing, you can plan your innings accordingly. Mayank Markande and Mitchell Santner come in for Chahar and Ghazanfar.

Obviously would have bowled first. But as you all know, it’s a good batting track. The ball comes nicely onto the bat with good bounce. So honestly, it won’t make too much difference. We’ll try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure. This is our fourth game. The way we’ve played the last few matches, there are a lot of positives. In the last match, we were 97 for 6 and still managed to score over 200. That’s a positive sign for us. We enjoy it a lot here. Whenever we come, we see great crowds. It’s challenging, but at the same time, fun and exciting. Just one change, Duffy comes in place of Hazlewood.

Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah

Impact Substitutes: Sherfane Rutherford, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Raghu Sharma, Raj Bawa

Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma

Impact Substitutes: Rasikh Salam Dar, Venkatesh Iyer, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh, Mangesh Yadav