IPL 2025: Mitchell Starc among several international cricketers who may not return to India for remainder of the tournament
IPL revised schedule creates issues for international players
The 2025 Indian Premier League was halted for a week due to the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, and as a result, the Board of Control for Cricket in India have had to scramble to make adjustments to the tournament schedule for the remainder of the competition.
The first match back will see the high-flying Royal Challengers Bengaluru taking on the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday afternoon, and our IPL predictions for that clash will be available ahead of the toss.
Originally, the IPL was scheduled to be completed on May 26, but the new timetable sees the tournament now set to run until June 3 for finalists, which creates issues for players from the likes of South Africa, England, Australia and the West Indies, due to fixture clashes.
The Proteas and Australia are set to face off in the World Test Championship on June 11, but were expected to begin preparations from the end of May, while the Three Lions and the Windies ODI series gets underway on May 29, six days before the end of the IPL.
Potential absentees for Playoff contenders
The Gujarat Titans currently lead the league standings with 16 points and are certain to feature in the Playoffs. At the time of writing, England captain Jos Buttler and South African fast bowler Gerald Coetzee have confirmed they will return to the squad this week, as they were the only two to leave the country when the league was halted.
For second-placed RCB, who are joint-favourites according to the best online betting sites, Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone have been excluded from England’s upcoming series against the West Indies and should rejoin the franchise. However, Josh Hazlewood, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd and Lungi Ngidi’s attendance for the rest of the competition is still uncertain.
Xavier Bartlett, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mitchell Owen have all confirmed that they will return to the Punjab Kings in the coming days, but the same cannot be said for Aaron Hardie, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis. Jansen and Inglis have been selected for the WTC Final by their countries.
The Mumbai Indians are expected to have a full contingent up to the Playoffs, but DC will have to make do without Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk, who have opted out, which has forced the team to sign Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman for the remainder of the tournament.
Fewer changes anticipated for the bottom half
The Kolkata Knight Riders' title defence has not gone well so far, as they are seventh in the standings. However, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Rovman Powell are in Dubai and will be joined by Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is in Kabul, before returning to Kolkata for the final stages of the competition.
Despite SRH being out of Playoff contention, all of their international stars, including Pat Cummins, Heinrich Klaasen, Eshan Malinga, Kamindu Mendis, Wiaan Mulder, and Travis Head, have confirmed they will be back for the resumption.
Like the Sunrisers, CSK are out of the knockout round equation, though Noor Ahmad, Dewald Brewis, Devon Conway and Matheesha Pathirana are all back with the team. However, Rachin Ravindra, Sam Curran and Jamie Overton have yet to confirm their availability.
LSG and RR are among the least affected, with the Super Giants only expected to be without Aiden Markram, while with the Royals already eliminated from the Playoff race, their international players are likely to sit out the remainder of the tournament.
