Josh Hazlewood brings the kind of consistency every captain dreams of: Sanjay Bangar

Former India cricketer Sanjay Bangar has praised pacer Josh Hazlewood for his brilliant bowling in a pressure situation against Rajasthan Royals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 24. RCB's home stadium was filled with loud cheers as they secured their first home victory of the season after losing three consecutive games in Bengaluru.

RCB defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 11 runs and climbed to the third spot on the points table. Spekaing of their victory, it was courtesy a terrific bowling effort from Hazlewood, who picked four wickets for just 33 runs. After Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for 22 runs in the 18th over, RR required just 18 runs in the last two overs. However, Hazlewood brought his team back into the game in the 19th over, where he dismissed the set batter Dhruv Jurel followed by Jofra Archer on the very next ball. He gave merely one run in the penultimate over to tilt the game in his team's favour.

"He was outstanding. Given the surface, Hazlewood was expected to be the most dangerous bowler for RR. RCB were under pressure after Bhuvneshwar’s previous over went for 22, and Rajasthan Royals needed 40 off 3. But Hazlewood responded brilliantly—those two wickets and the sharp review by Jitesh Sharma turned the game in RCB’s favour. It was something special from the entire team, especially Hazlewood," said Bangar on JioStar.

The former India player went on to say that Hazlewood is the "dream bowler" for any captain in a crunch situation like the previous game. Hazlewood has consistently taken wickets this season, with his ability to bowl in the powerplay as well as the death overs making him a go-to option for RCB skipper Patidar. The pacer has also climed up the IPL 2025 Purple Cap list as he is currently the joint-highest wicket-taker alongside Gujarat Titans pacer Prasidh Krishna, with both having 16 wickets.

"Josh Hazlewood brings the kind of consistency every captain dreams of. Under pressure, he keeps his cool, hits the right lengths, and knows exactly what to bowl to each batter. RCB’s bowling improvement over the years is largely due to him—he’s been their most reliable bowler, barring the season he missed due to injury. Hitting test-match lengths day in and day out is second nature to him. On a surface with steep bounce, it’s no surprise he picked up four wickets," added Bangar.