Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Josh Hazlewood missed out as his team locks horns against Chennai Super Kings at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, April 5. Hazlewood, who was a key member in RCB’s title win last year, missed out on his team’s season opener against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and is also out of this clash.
Hazlewood did some warm-ups in the build-up to the game, but not much, as he continues to stay on the bench. He has been out of action for a long time now, having missed the Ashes and the T20 World Cup 2026 due to his hamstring and Achilles problems. He has linked up with the RCB squad, but it looks like he is still some game time away from being match fit.ย
CSK opt to bowl after winning toss
Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and opted to field first against the strong RCB side. CSK went with the same team as Dhoni and Brevis missed out, Gaikwad confirmed at the toss.
“We will bowl first. Obviously, high scoring ground. Looks like a good pitch, there’s going to be some runs. We’ll look to restrict them as much as possible. MS is getting back slowly, sometimes it taks time, if he’s ready to play, it’ll be soon. The first game was disappointing, but our batting was much better in the second game. Everyone is feeling confident. Same team for us,” Gaikwad said at the toss.
No change for RCB, Patidar confirms
Meanwhile, Patidar also confirmed that there are no changes to the team that beat SRH in its first game. “We were looking to bowl first, but it looks like a hard pitch, so we’re happy to bat. It’s a fresh wicket. The boys played well in the last game, and we’re looking to continue here. The way everyone played in the last game was tremendous; everyone had clarity in their role, and they are high in confidence. We’re going with the same side,” Patidar said.
Playing XIs:
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ayush Mhatre, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Prashant Veer, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, Matt Henry, Khaleel Ahmed
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Duffy
Chennai Super Kings Impact subs: Matthew Short, Akeal Hosein, Kartik Sharma, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Gurjapneet Singh,
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact subs: Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Venkatesh Iyer