Franchises allowed to sign temporary replacement players for remainder of IPL 2025: Reports

Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises have been permitted to sign temporary replacement players for the remainder of the 2025 campaign to cope with unavailability woes after the suspension lift. Several overseas players voiced their concern about a potential return to the subcontinent, while a number of players will be unavailable in the business end since the rearranged schedule clashes with several international assignments.

A number of England stars like Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, and Jamie Overton were recently named in England's home ODI series against West Indies, beginning from May 29, the same day that the playoffs are also set to begin. Moreover, there is serious doubt over the participation of South African and Australian players because of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final in early June.

It is to be noted that franchises will not be allowed to retain the 'temporary replacement' players ahead of the next auction, meaning that they will have to be released back into the player pool once the ongoing 2025 season ends.

According to the existing rules, franchises are allowed to bring in a replacement in case a player pulls out, or there is a case of injury. The only condition being that it should be completed before the team's 12th match of the league stage.

"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," the league said in a memo, according to a report by ESPN Cricinfo.

"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. Temporary Replacement players will have to register for the IPL Player Auction 2026," the statement continued.

The Delhi Capitals (DC) have already made use of the provision to sign veteran Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman in place of the unavailable opening batter, Jake Fraser-McGurk.

IPL 2025 to resume from May 17 onwards with a clash between RCB and KKR

IPL franchises will have a few days time to line up and confirm their temporary replacements, with the campaign set to restart from May 17 onwards. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will face the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The schedule for the remainder of the season has been released, but it is yet to be confirmed where the playoffs will be contested. The IPL 2025 final has been rescheduled to take place on June 3.