The excitement surrounding the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings match held in Bengaluru in IPL 2025 was high from the beginning. However, before the start of the match, the RCB team management gave a big surprise. The team’s star Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood was not kept in the playing eleven. South African Lungi Ngidi is playing in his place. No explanation was given about the matter before the start of the match or during the toss, and even captain Rajat Patidar did not say anything.
It is known that Hazlewood did not participate in the warm-up before the match. He was seen talking to Chennai pacer Nathan Ellis. As a result, many assume that he may not have played due to an injury or personal reasons. However, since the reason for his absence has not been officially announced, fans have shown mixed reactions on social media. Many are disappointed because Hazlewood was one of RCB’s best bowlers this season.
He has taken 18 wickets in 10 matches so far, which puts him second in the IPL Purple Cap list. Only Gujarat Titans’ Prasidh Krishna is ahead of him. Hazlewood’s consistent performance contributed a lot to the team’s victory. So, his sudden absence in such an important match has raised a lot of sadness and questions in the minds of RCB fans.
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and decided to field first. MS Dhoni is the captain. They have not made any changes to the team. On the other hand, RCB has made the only change by playing Ngidi in place of Hazlewood. Rajat Patidar said at the toss, “We would have fielded if we had won the toss. But the wicket will not change much. We will try to make a good score and then put them under pressure.”
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He also said, “So far, many in the team have played well, which is positive. I am trusting the boys as the captain. We have four matches in hand, we will try our best to win all of them. We are not thinking about qualification, but rather we are taking each match seriously.”
RCB is currently in third place in the points table with 14 points in this victory struggle. If they can beat Chennai in this match, they will move to the top of the points table. On the other hand, Chennai’s situation is very pathetic. They have only got 4 points from playing 10 matches and are at the bottom of the table.
There was speculation before this match that RCB would go with their best bowling combination. However, due to Hazlewood’s absence, that plan had to be changed a bit. Although Ngidi is an experienced pacer, he has not been consistent like Hazlewood this season.
Meanwhile, Chennai captain Dhoni was quite confident before entering the field. He said, “We have come out with a good plan. The coordination between the players is getting better, now we just need to execute it properly on the field.”
The result of this match is important for both teams. On one hand, RCB is fighting to climb to the top, on the other hand, Chennai is playing to protect its dignity. Only time will tell who will have the last laugh in the match. However, there is no doubt that Hazlewood’s absence can turn the tide of the match. Now the fans just want to know why he was not kept in the XI for such an important match.
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