Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan urged Royal Challengers Bengaluru to rest Josh Hazlewood against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday. Hazlewood has scalped 12 wickets in 10 matches in the ongoing IPL 2026 at an average of 30.25 and an economy rate of 9.18.

Pathan reckons RCB can play Richard Gleeson with Jacob Duffy against SRH and should try to manage Hazlewood’s workload. Meanwhile, Duffy had scalped three wickets in the opening game of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad and was awarded Player of the Match.

Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports’ YouTube Channel, “I think they should give him rest because there has been a workload management thing for Hazlewood. Now, they have Gleeson, they have Duffy, whom they actually want to go for because Duffy has a little constraint as far as where they want to use him, and Gleeson, you can actually use him at the back end of the overs. So, you’ll get more variety.”

On the other hand, former Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla concurred with Pathan and said Hazlewood hasn’t been up to the mark in the last few games.

“I think rest would be good enough for him because if you see his last few outings, he has not been up to the mark. He’s not getting that many wickets, what we were expecting and what we have seen at the beginning of the tournament.”

Pathan reckons RCB’s spinners should bowl a wide line against Heinrich Klaasen whereas fast bowlers should not give him pace.

He concluded, “I think spinner needs to come in and bowl slightly fuller, make him play outside the off-stump, and at the same time, make him invite on the front foot. This is where the spinners have gone wrong. They need to bowl wide as soon as possible. And don’t give too much pace to work with as a fast bowler.”

SRH and RCB will take on each other at Hyderabad on Friday.