Ahead of their do-or-die game against defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have reportedly suffered a massive blow. Faf du Plessis' men, who are gunning for their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) glory, will be without their star overseas pacer Josh Hazlewood for Sunday's (May 21) game and if the franchise manages to progress to the playoffs, they will be without the Australian pacer till the end of the tournament.
According to reports, Hazlewood is battling a heel injury and will fly back to Australia. The veteran pacer has missed a ton of matches for RCB this season due to injury. Overall, Hazlewood played just three matches in IPL 2023 and bagged as many wickets.
If Faf du Plessis' men secure a victory on Sunday, they will become the fourth team to book a spot. RCB have a far superior Net Run Rate (NRR) than Mumbai Indians (MI) as both franchises are tied on 14 points with one game each remaining to be played.
In case MI wins their game by a convincing margin, RCB will have the luxury of knowing by what margin they have to secure a win as the Bangalore-based franchise will play the second match on Sunday.
If RCB qualifies for the playoffs, which is more likely, they will play the Eliminator game against their rivals Lucknow Super Giants. With their eighth win of the season, LSG booked their spot in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs after beating Kolkata Knight Riders on May 20 (Saturday).
RCB has an NRR of +0.180 while Rohit Sharma's team has an NRR of -0.128. In case, MI and RCB both end up losing their respective matches, Rajasthan Royals will have a chance to reach the playoffs. Sanju Samson's team has an NRR of +0.148 with 14 points in their kitty.
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