The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has instructed the IPL franchises about new temporary replacement rules prior to the tournament’s restart edition in 2025. The tournament was interrupted following rising tension between India and Pakistan consequent upon a terrorist attack, with the games suspended from May 9 to May 17. The final is now being pushed to June 3, raising questions as to the availability of overseas players that could be tied with their respective national duties and may also not be able to come back.
Prominent players like Mitchell Starc of Delhi Capitals and Josh Hazlewood from Royal Challengers Bengaluru are not expected to feature. The CEO of Chennai Super Kings has further said that Jamie Overton and Sam Curran from England will miss their two final league matches. To give some relief, the IPL will now allow teams to go in for temporary replacements for concerned players who are unable to return even during playoffs, allowing greater flexibility.
Earlier, replacements could be obtained by teams only for the first seven matches, but this period has been extended to cover the first 12 league games during the 2025-27 cycle. The BCCI letter said that the unavailability of players due to various reasons shall allow a temporary replacement to be signed until the end of the tournament but it shall not be retained for the next season.
Replacements signed before suspension can be retained by teams in the 2026 auction. Teams like Chennai Super Kings have already signed up some exciting youngsters as replacements, which shows they might be looking ahead to next year, having missed out on the 2025 playoffs.
