Josh Hazlewood hails Suyash Sharma's courage in IPL 2025 opener
What's the story
Australian and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Josh Hazlewood has praised leg-spinner Suyash Sharma for his key contribution in the IPL 2025 opener.
Although he gave away 47 runs in four overs, Sharma's timely wicket of Andre Russell kept Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) from scoring over 200 runs.
This important wicket allowed RCB to restrict KKR to a total of 174/8.
Praise
Hazlewood praises Sharma's gutsy performance
Hazlewood praised Sharma's gutsy performance, saying, "I really think he'll continue to improve with every game he plays this season."
He further added, "From what I've seen...even tonight, he showed a lot of guts bowling that ball to Dre Russ at the end. That was a big wicket."
Hazlewood also acknowledged that without Sharma's wicket-taking ability in the last three overs of KKR's innings, they could have scored 30 or more runs.
Match outcome
RCB's victory in IPL 2025 opener
In the chase, RCB completely bossed the game and chased down KKR's target with 22 balls to spare, winning by seven wickets.
Hazlewood was excited about Sharma's future performances and said "He has great skill, and I'm excited to see how his game develops over the next few games."
The Challengers will look to continue their winning run against Chennai Super Kings on March 28 at MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Krunal
Krunal Pandya's bowling turns the tide
Krunal Pandya's phenomenal bowling was a highlight for RCB. KKR were comfortably placed at 109/2 when he dismissed the dangerous-looking Ajinkya Rahane (56) in the 11th over.
He then trapped dashers Rinku Singh (12) and Venkatesh Iyer (6) cheaply to finish with 4-0-29-3.
His sensational spell meant KKR could only manage 67 runs in the second half of their innings.
Meanwhile, Hazlewood was also brilliant across all phases, claiming 2/22 from four overs.