IPL 2025’s Resumption in Jeopardy for England Players as WTC Final Approaches

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 prepares to resume following its temporary suspension, scrutiny builds over the overseas players’ availability. Like many others, IPL 2025 has been halted since May 9, when rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan caused organisational concern. On May 10, a ceasefire was declared with IPL officials tentatively set to resume the tournament in mid-May. Now, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) attempting to jam the remaining matches before the World Test Championship (WTC) final is scheduled to take place from June 11 at Lord’s, it is not clear if many Australian and South African players will return, as they fulfil their national commitments, especially with the national team playing the WTC final.

The overlap between the IPL playoffs and players’ unavoidable commitments due to the scheduled WTC final gives us a reason to ask one of the big questions more broadly discussed before: is international cricket still paramount, what do player contracts mean and should we care if domestic competitions need to push aside overseas players in competitions relying heavily on them?

The Impact of Hazlewood: RCB’s Bowling Depth Issue

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) – already circling the drain after a poor record in the group stage, has just got one more kick in the face. Star Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood is expected to miss the rest of the IPL day due to the number of injuries that he is managing, and of course the looming WTC final. According to the reports, rather than risking aggravating an injury without being able to further manage his fitness before committing to the national team, Hazlewood has decided to stay in Australia.

Hazlewood’s absence will likely be damaging for RCB. The team does not have a like-for-like replacement for him in the tall, accurate seam bowler who relies on control and swing – critical skills that work in sync, particularly when bowling at the death and on Indian pitches facing difficult and uneven bounce. RCB’s reliance upon domestic bowlers is further exposed by Hazlewood’s absence, while other seam bowlers will need to carry even more burden – namely Mohammed Siraj and Cameron Green.

SRH’s Situation: Cummins and Head Likely to Leave

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will face a similar situation to them. They will miss two key Australians: their captain, Pat Cummins, who also captains Australia’s Test side in the WTC final, is again likely to leave the IPL behind to focus on that role. Cummins’ experience, leadership and bowling ability have been crucial to SRH having any chance at successfully managing a team, so losing him would be major.

Additionally, Travis Head, who has been an explosive top-order batsman for SRH, will likely miss the rest of the IPL too. Thankfully for the Sunrisers, Head has provided much needed consistency against spin in Indian conditions in the previous IPL seasons, where he has been a key component of their batting setup. Without Cummins and Head, SRH will have to shuffle not only their leadership but also too much balance -and on existing schedule with minimal recovery time.

Delhi Capitals Lose Players to Injuries & Withdrawals

The Delhi Capitals will not be spared either. Star pacer Mitchell Starc has injured his rib and is a doubt for the rest of the IPL. On the off chance he is can make a recovery, it may be that Cricket Australia suggest he remain out and prepare for the WTC final. If Starc does not play, it is a major loss in the ability of Delhi to be competitive among the other IPL franchises.

Also, Tristan Stubbs who has been a reliable finisher for the Capitals, is also likely to opt out of the rest of the tournament to practice with South Africa’s WTC preparations. To lose both Starc and Stubbs would throw the Capitals playoff ambitions into disarray and will ultimately rely solely on their domestic options.

South African Stars Headed to WC Focus

While Australian players have garnered the attention, South Africa is experiencing the same loss of IPL players:

Marco Jansen of the Punjab Kings is likely to leave early to prepare for the WTC. An integral allrounder who can be deployed with both areas of the game (batting and bowling) as a replacement.

Aiden Markram is also likely to depart but has also been a productive player for the Lucknow Super Giants. The experience and calmness under pressure will be sorely missed.

A small win for IPL franchises may wind up being Kagiso Rabada; having recently cleaned his system from a one month suspension for a recreational drug offence, he is eligible to return to the IPL and selection for the WTC if wanted. This may add some badly needed help to any franchise strapped for fast-bowling fire-power.

Implications for IPL Franchises

One of the largest exoduses of foreign players because of international commitments raises several critical points:

Squad Depth and Contingency Planning: Teams that have relied very heavily on foreign players will now have to evaluate their bench strength at some critical points in the tournament. While the Indian uncapped players will receive more game time that could be valuable, it is not without risk.

Force Majure and Contractual Obligations: Legally, IPL franchises cannot “force” players to return to their teams if they are going from their international commitments or injury, as referenced in the majority of IPL contracts, using a “force majure” clause. The force majure sections of the contract simultaneously protect players and franchises in situations that are outside of anyone’s control, such as political issues or international fixtures.

Impact on Competitive Balance: not all of the star players not playing are reasonably distributed across the league, therefore, some teams may be unfairly disadvantaged. A team like RCB that relied on several top foreign pacers will now lean heavily into its local talent; it may disappointingly struggle more than teams that can rely on a comparatively large buffer of domestically seasoned players. 

Pressure between Club and Country: IPL’s tension between player availability and player commitments to their nations will remain relevant because of this scenario, which effectively begins conversations about scheduling and if boards and franchises can work collaboratively to avoid the clashes wherever possible in the future.

Where to next? Should the BCCI move the IPL window?

With IPL’s stature/riches growing, comes a corresponding expectation around when the IPL will play. As overlapping International tournaments like the WTC Final and bilateral tours become more common, the BCCI may have to assess the calendar and schedule the IPL for more optimal access to the players when the playoffs and trophy finals are at stake, as that is ultimately where the value is created.

One of the suggestions has been to go earlier or finish before major international commitments (any commitments such as international duty, even competing on tour duty). However, there has to be coordination between world cricket boards (otherwise vlobal calendars become very congested) where all of the major boards coordinate their availability and therefore pullout players.

Rolling the Credit Forward, A Test of IPL’s Resilience

No team will be more pleased than both fans and franchises to see the IPL 2025 resume, but the absence of or marquee overseas players due to WTC duty and injury is not the best place for the league to end. A major test for the teams such as RCB, SRH and Delhi Capitals, is to show the required depth, adaptability and leadership to continue through this part of the tournament. 

In conclusion, while the franchise model wants the revenues that come from star players, cricket will always be a team sport that demonstrates that bench strength and team unity can overcome tendered shortfalls. Therefore, the next few weeks will not only determine who lifts the ultimate IPL trophy, but how the IPL has responded, with uncertain and unexpected changes in international cricket landscapes.

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