.png)
11 months ago
56
Josh Hazlewood has been named as a shock withdrawal from the 2024 Indian Premier League competition, with the Australian pace bowling spearhead to shun millions of dollars to remain at home for the birth of his first child.
Royal Challengers Bangalore made the shock announcement that Hazlewood will not be retained for the upcoming season, as the franchise looks to rebound from missing the 2023 finals.
World Cup winner Hazlewood was the biggest shock in the list of scrapped players, which also included Sri Lankan bowler Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey and Wayne Parnell.
The Aussie only played a handful of games for RCB last season because of an Achilles tendon injury.
The fast bowler had done a great job of hiding the news that he's expecting his first child with wife Cherina Murphy Christian in late March.
Aussie pace bowler Josh Hazlewood won't be playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming Indian Premier League season - and he has a heartwarming reason for quitting
Hazlewood and his wife Cherina Murphy-Christian (pictured together) are expecting first child in late March next year
Head Coach Andy Flower and Director of Cricket Mo Bobat explain the factors that influence the retention and release of players.
Valuable inputs from senior players, a purse that allows competitive advantage at the auction, and having as many options as possible, were some of… pic.twitter.com/qhAd5sJ99f
Royal Challengers Bangalore coach Andy Fowler confirmed that the baby's arrival was behind the decision to release Hazlewood.
'I've just come off the phone with Josh,' he said.
'He, very pleasingly, has a baby on the way, due at the end of March. So Josh won't be with us, certainly not for the first half of the season.'
Hazlewood's withdrawal means he joins Aussie pace bowling stars Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc as free agents.
It has been reported that RCB could target Starc as a replacement for Hazelwood, and they have a war chest to chase him with.
High school sweethearts Hazlewood and Murphy-Christian (pictured at this year's Australian Cricket Awards) were married in August 2022 with many of his teammates in attendance
With Hazlewood out, fellow World Cup-winning Aussie bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc could be targeted by the Royal Challengers
Hazlewood married Murphy-Christian in the picturesque Hunter Valley just north of Sydney in August 2022.
The couple were sweethearts at Oxley High School in the NSW town of Tamworth and they marked their nuptials with Hazlewood's teammates Cummins, Starc, Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head and Nathan Lyon in attendance.
Hazlewood's brother Aaron described the ceremony as a 'small, sort of low-key wedding'.
'It couldn't have worked out any better,' the star's brother said.
'Everything went to plan. It was a really special couple of days.'
English (US)