IPL 2023: Royal Challengers Bangalore have roped in replacements for star players Reece Topley and Rajat Patidar. South Africa's star Wayne Parnel and Indian domestic player Vyshak Vijay Kumar will join the RCB camp in place of the injured duo of Topley and Patidar. Topley suffered a shoulder injury during RCB's first game of the tournament against Mumbai Indians and was earlier ruled out of the tournament. Whereas, Patidar has been ruled out due to a heel issue.
Bangalore are facing player availability issues with the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga not being able to play for the initial matches of the team. During RCB's game against Kolkata Knight Riders, Bangalore's head coach Sanjay Bangar informed that Topley has been ruled out and Hasaranga and Hazlewood will join them soon. "Reece Topley has traveled back home and he has been ruled out of the tournament. We will be seeking for a replacement soon," Bangar had said.
"Hasaranga will arrive on the 10th of April, depending on the time of arrival, and how he copes with the long flight from New Zealand. We will see how it comes. Karn Sharma has done well on his chances, that’s another headache for us, but it’s a good headache," he added. Hasaranga is currently in New Zealand, where he is playing a T20I series for his country. The three-match series ends by 8th April, after which Hasaranga is expected to take the flight to India.
Josh Hazlewood, meanwhile, is set to join the team on April 14 but as Bangar informed, he might be available to play from April 17 for the team. Topley was playing as a backup bowler for Hazlewood but even he has been ruled out now. In the game against KKR, David Willey replaced Topley and did well to pick up two wickets of Venkatesh Iyer and Mandeep Singh off consecutive deliveries.
Bangalore have had a mixed campaign in the IPL 2023. While they completed an easy win against Mumbai Indians, they suffered a drubbing at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders in their second encounter.
RCB squad for IPL 2023: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf Du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmed, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Himanshu Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav, Micheal Bracewell
