As per the revised schedule, IPL 2025 will restart on May 17 with RCB taking on KKR. After the new schedule was announced, the franchises have reached out to the foreign players enquiring about their availability for the rest of the tournament.
IPL 2025 is set to restart on May 17 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru hosting Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The tournament was suspended midway due to rising tension between India and Pakistan in the border states. After Pakistan approached for a ceasefire, the BCCI officials planned for a restart, and the cash-rich tournament will now continue till June 3.
However, due to the change in schedule, doubts emerged about the availability of foreign cricketers. The likes of Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis are reportedly not interested in being back, but Punjab Kings head coach Ricky Ponting is in constant touch with the cricketers. RCB pacer Josh Hazlewood is very unlikely to return, while Mitchell Starc is doubtful as well. Australia’s Jake Fraser-McGurk is said to be missing as well.
Among South African players, the availability of Aiden Markram and Wiian Mulder is in doubt. England, on the other hand, will play a three-match ODI series against West Indies during the final week of the IPL, and it needs to be seen if the likes of Jos Buttler, Will Jacks and Jacob Bethell, among others, make themselves available for the IPL.
Nevertheless, BCCI officials expect the majority of the foreign cricketers to return for the IPL 2025. An official told PTI that they are in touch with foreign boards while the franchises are constantly speaking to the players.
“We have been speaking to the foreign boards individually, while teams are directly dealing with their players. We expect majority of them to return,” a BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.
CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan noted that they have started contacting the foreign players, and the team management will learn more about their availability on Wednesday, May 14.
“The revised scheduled was announced last night. We have just started contacting our foreign players over their availability. We will have a clearer picture by tomorrow morning. Anyway, our game is on May 20. We have enough time,” Viswanathan said.