List of players who have left the IPL for national duty

The six-week period, in which the IPL is played makes it difficult for all the overseas players to participate in the entire length of the tournament. With the tournament progressing towards its sixth week, which is the most important one, franchises have been bereaved of many international stars ahead of the playoffs.

Rising Pune Supergiant and Kolkata Knight Riders have been hit the most as three players from each side have travelled back to join their countrymen in their preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy. RPS, by virtue of today’s victory against Kings XI, are ranked second in the points table will take on the Mumbai Indians in the 1st Qualifier on May 16 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The Smith-led side will be without their premier all-rounder Ben Stokes, who had a remarkable season after being acquired for a record price for Rs 14.5 crore at the IPL auctions. Apart from Stokes, the South African duo of Imran Tahir and Faf du Plessis has joined their team in England ahead of the 3-match ODI series against South Africa. Tahir was sensational this year for RPS picking wickets at crucial junctures, while Faf appeared just for the two games this year.

KKR will be without Kiwis Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme apart from English all-rounder Chris Woakes for their eliminator game against Sunrisers at Bangalore on May 16. Grandhomme and Woakes have had decent success in their debut IPL season. Boult appeared in only 5 games this season and could pick just 4 wickets from them.

Jos Butler and Tim Southee, teammates at Mumbai Indians, have flown to the UK to be with their respective teams. Southee will straightaway be in action as New Zealand is already playing a tri-series against Ireland and Bangladesh in Ireland. Butler will gear up for the England-South Africa ODI series which is set to begin on May 24.

The list of the players who have exited before the playoffs are as following:

Faf du Plessis, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Trent Boult, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Corey Anderson, Imran Tahir.