The IPL will permit teams to recruit temporary substitute players for the last few games of the rescheduled 2025 season; but those players will not be eligible for retention prior to the subsequent auction. After being suspended owing to tensions between India and Pakistan across the border, the league will restart on Saturday. However, several players will have calendar conflicts as a result of the new dates. While most international players will spend the remainder of the season in India, others have withdrawn, such as Jamie Overton of the Chennai Super Kings and Jake Fraser-McGurk of the Delhi Capitals.
According to IPL rules, teams are allowed to sign substitutes if an injury or illness strikes during or before their 12th game of the season. However, the league has decided to alter those regulations so that temporary substitutes can be hired for the balance of the rescheduled season.
Any interim replacements hired after the league's suspension, however, will not be qualified for retention before the next campaign. The action appears to be intended to prevent a scenario in which franchises are essentially encouraged to sign replacements in order to get around the auction procedure, rather than for justifiable reasons.
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In a memo, the IPL informed franchisees that it had "reassessed" the rules for replacement. "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.
"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 replacements who were accepted before to the league's suspension might still be kept for the upcoming campaign.
In the 48 hours prior to suspension, four players were signed: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Nandre Burger (both Rajasthan Royals), Mayank Agarwal (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), and Sediqullah Atal (Delhi Capitals). On Wednesday, Capitals roped in Mutafizur Rahman as the replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk.
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