Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Josh Hazlewood believes the five-month lay-off that kept him out of the Ashes, the T20 World Cup and the opening rounds of IPL 2026 was largely self-inflicted. The 35-year-old says repeated attempts to hurry back only opened the door to fresh problems.
“Any professional athlete who’s been injured knows what it takes to get back. Some are harder than others. This time around, it was obviously quite a long time out of the game,” he said before Saturday’s home match against Delhi Capitals. “Just a few things crept in, I think mostly through probably trying to rush back a little bit, trying to make it to the fourth or fifth Ashes Test or the World Cup.”
The sequence was brutal. A hamstring strain in a November Sheffield Shield match was followed by an Achilles flare-up during rehab; soon after, a torn calf ended any hope of an early return. Hazlewood missed two marquee tournaments and the first fortnight of the IPL. “So you learn stuff every time you’re injured and it’s probably just about respecting that time frame or that return to play, the time that it takes to get back,” he reflected.
First steps back
Hazlewood’s comeback match, against Rajasthan Royals, was a mixture: two wickets but 44 runs shipped as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel counter-attacked. A planned rest against Mumbai Indians followed. In Bengaluru a few days later he looked sharper, claiming 1 for 20 against Lucknow Super Giants.
For the seamer, the extra breathing space between fixtures proved vital. “It’s really hard to replicate that intensity of training. I even probably had a few more sessions here than what I probably felt that I needed to be ready,” he admitted. “I probably felt four or five days before playing that Rajasthan game that I was ready and probably pushed hard to play against Chennai here, but it was probably a good thing I just kept it and banked a few more sessions.”
Training v match intensity
Hazlewood’s point is familiar to support staff across formats: match intensity is hard to bottle. “For T20, your volume doesn’t have to be huge at training, it’s just reaching that intensity that the game demands out in the middle. That’s probably the biggest thing to tick off at training in the last four weeks leading into this tournament, which I felt like I did as best I could. But once you’re out there in the middle of a huge crowd, guys hitting you for six every ball, the intensity goes up a lot.”
Numbers and method
Statistically, Hazlewood still holds up. Since the start of IPL 2024 he takes a wicket every 18 balls, comfortably inside the tournament average. His method, rooted in Test-match lengths rather than elaborate slower balls, remains unchanged: pound a hard length, use the natural bounce, mix in the occasional disguised on-pace delivery. The variation – he loads up as if bowling an off-cutter before flicking back to the seam-up ball – offers enough uncertainty without betraying his core strength: accuracy.
Age, recovery and the season ahead
Fast bowlers in their mid-30s often talk about managing workloads more than searching for pace. Hazlewood is no different. He has “ticked off everything I possibly could” in readiness for the campaign, including strength work aimed at easing stress on the troublesome calf and tendon. With Australia’s home summer looming, the medical team will keep a close eye on his overs, though the player himself is more philosophical. Respect the timeline, he says, and the body repays you.
There is, then, no grand comeback narrative, just an experienced quick learning – a little late, perhaps – that patience is as important as pace. For a side still chasing a maiden IPL title, that lesson could be worth a few tight death overs in May.
