New Delhi, May 14: The Indian Premier League on Wednesday allowed teams to make temporary replacements in their squad for the remainder of the tournament considering the non-availability of a few foreign players owing to the forced rescheduling of the event.
IPL had to be suspended last week due to the India-Pakistan military conflict but the announcement of the ceasefire paved the way for its resumption on May 17.
As per the original schedule, the IPL final was to be held on May 25 but now it will take place on June 3, making it trickier for the players who had to report for national duty.
While a few players are not returning due to personal reasons, the likes of Jamie Overton, representing CSK this season, will stay back in the UK for the white-ball series against the West Indies at home.
In an email to franchises, IPL informed the teams of the temporary replacement player option.
“… in the current situation, where we had to temporarily suspend IPL 2025, resulting in its completion beyond the earlier set-out date of May 25, 2025, we have reassessed the Replacement Player provisions.
“Given the non-availability of certain foreign players due to national commitments or personal reasons or any injury or illness, Temporary Replacement Players will be allowed until the conclusion of this tournament.
“This decision is subject to the condition that the Temporary Replacement players taken from this point forward will not be eligible for retention in the following year,” IPL said in its note.
As per the IPL Player Regulations 2025-27, players can be replaced if they are injured or ill, provided the injury or illness occurs during or before the 12th league match of the relevant team in that season.
“Temporary Replacement players will have to register for the IPL Player Auction 2026. The replacements which were approved or taken before the suspended period will be eligible for retention ahead of 2026 player auction,” the note added.
Capitals sign Mustafizur as
Fraser-McGurk’s replacement
Delhi Capitals on Wednesday signed Bangladesh left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman as replacement for Australian batter Jake-Fraser McGurk, who will not rejoin the team for the remainder of Indian Premier League after returning home.
Fraser-McGurk’s release won’t hurt DC as he was dropped after the first six games in which he tallied only 55 runs. Also, if Mitchell Starc doesn’t come, as is widely anticipated, then Mustafizur’s left-arm seam bowling, with expertise in death overs, would come in handy.
“The JSW and GMR co-owned franchise Delhi Capitals today announced the signing of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman as a replacement for Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk, who will be unavailable for the remainder of the TATA IPL 2025 season,” the franchise stated in a release.
However Mustafizur, on Wednesday, flew to Dubai for Bangladesh’s two-match T20I series vs UAE and also posted the news on his official twitter handle.
Bangladesh play UAE on May 17 and 19 and if Mustafizur happens to play both games, he would only reach India on May 20. He would miss Delhi’s game against Gujarat Titans.
However, it is learnt that Mustafizur has a lucrative contract, and the franchise – Delhi Capitals in this case – is currently negotiating with the Bangladesh Cricket Board for his early release. As is customary for overseas players, the respective cricket board also receives a percentage of the contract.
Mustafizur, who made his IPL debut in 2016, previously represented the Delhi Capitals during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
In 2022, he picked up eight wickets in eight matches with an economy of 7.62 and in the following season, he played two matches for Delhi Capitals.
KKR’s Quinton De Kock to return
Meanwhile, veteran South African keeper-batter Quinton de Kock has confirmed his availability and will rejoin the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in Bengaluru for their next IPL game, as per an ESPNCricinfo report.
RR’s Jofra Archer not to return
It has been learnt that Rajasthan Royals pace spearhead Jofra Archer, who sustained a thumb injury during their game against Kolkata Knight Riders, is not returning for the remaining games.
However, if sources are to be believed, the Royals being out of playoff contention meant there was little point in asking Archer to return for a few inconsequential games. The same applies to CSK, where Sam Curran is also not expected to return. (PTI)
