IPL 2025: Temporary player replacements approved for season's final phase

The Indian Premier League (IPL) will allow franchises to sign temporary replacement players for the final leg of the tournament. The schedule of the 18th edition of the IPL has been rearranged after a week’s pause due to the cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan, shortly after the execution of Operation Sindoor by the Government of India.

The IPL 2025 is set to resume on May 17 with the first game will be played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. The majority of the overseas players will return to India for the league, but some have withdrawn due to national duties and personal reasons, such as, Jake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals) and Jamie Overton (Chennai Super Kings).

Earlier, IPL teams could only sign replacements if a player got injured or sick before their twelfth league stage match of the season. But, the rules have changed to allow teams to bring in temporary replacements for the rest of the revised season due to unforeseen circumstances.

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Will the temporary replacements be eligible for retention?

The temporary replacements signed after the IPL 2025's suspension will not be eligible for retention ahead of the 2026 season. The move is meant to stop teams from using replacement signings to get around the auction process, instead of signing them for genuine reasons.

"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 to franchises.

"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," it read further.

The IPL also clarified that any replacements which were approved before the suspension of the tournament will remain eligible for retention ahead of next season. The four players signed before suspension are Sediqullah Atal (Delhi Capitals), Mayank Agarwal (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Lhuan-dre Pretorius and Nandre Burger (Rajasthan Royals).