IPL 2025 Rules Changes: IPL Allows Franchises to Sign Temporary Replacements for Rest of Season

For the rest of the 18th season, the Indian Premier League will permit the teams to sign temporary replacement players. ESPNcricinfo states that those players will not be eligible for retention before the upcoming auction. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will play their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on May 17. Most foreign players will return to India for the league, although others, like Jamie Overton of the Chennai Super Kings and Jake Fraser-McGurk of the Delhi Capitals, have withdrawn for personal and national duty reasons.

Several international players are returning to India to play the rest of the event despite the rescheduled dates. Some, like Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Jamie Overton and Delhi Capitals opening batsman Jake Fraser-McGurk, have chosen to sit out the game. The IPL's rules allow clubs to sign substitutes in the event of illness or injury, as long as it happens during or before their 12th game of the season, according to ESPNcricinfo. But the league heeded the plea and changed the regulations, allowing teams to sign temporary substitutes for the rescheduled season.

IPL 2025 Rules Changes:

IPL teams used to be limited to signing replacements if a player became ill or injured before their twelfth league stage game of the season. However, due to unanticipated events, the regulations have been modified to permit clubs to bring in temporary substitutes for the remainder of the updated season.

ESPNcricinfo quoted IPL informing the franchises, "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."

IPL further added, "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 IPL also made it clear that any substitutes who were accepted before the tournament's suspension would still be eligible for retention for the upcoming season. Sediqullah Atal of the Delhi Capitals, Mayank Agarwal of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, and Nandre Burger of the Rajasthan Royals are the four players who were signed before to suspension.

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