Royal Challengers Bangalore will take on Mumbai Indians on Sunday. This will be the first game for both teams in IPL 2023. The match will happen at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. While Mumbai Indians will have all their overseas stars available, RCB will be missing a few of them. It needs to be noted that MI is yet to announce the replacement for Jhye Richardson. On that note, here, we take a look at two key overseas players who will not be available for RCB against Mumbai Indians.
1) Wanindu Hasaranga
The wrist-spinning all-rounder is a part of the Sri Lankan squad for the New Zealand T20I series. Hence, Hasaranga will not be available for RCB against Mumbai Indians.
The leggie was the team’s highest wicket-taker last season. Yes, he was expensive at times but he somehow manufactured wickets. At Chinnaswamy, a leggie is a must and RCB will be desperate to have him at the earliest. The management will also expect the Sri Lankan star to offer more with the bat in IPL 2023. At the moment, it appears that Michael Bracewell might take a spot in the playing XI until Hasaranga returns.
2) Josh Hazlewood
Josh Hazlewood is one of the key overseas players who will not be available for RCB against Mumbai Indians. The Australian pacer has been on the wrong side of injuries for a while now. He missed the Border Gavaskar Trophy and is all set to miss the initial stages of IPL 2023.
It was the same last season too. However, after he came back, Josh produced some good displays. Hence, RCB might be patient with him. They anyways have Reece Topley and David Willey, who would be good backups for the Aussie. Nevertheless, if Josh gets ruled out, it will be a massive blow for the franchise.
