IPL Allows Teams to Select Stand-In Players for Rest of Season
As a reaction to the lack of participation of numerous international players because of national obligations, injury, or personal issues, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has implemented a new regulation for the rest of IPL 2025. Teams can now recruit temporary replacement players for the last 16 games of the season. These stand-in players may be introduced even after a team's 12th league game, a break from the past cap. But these stand-in players will not be available for retention by the franchise in the upcoming season and will have to go into the 2026 auction pool. This is done to enable franchises to sustain competitive teams despite player shortages.
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The Indian Premier League has introduced a new rule to assist teams in this abnormal season. Since some players cannot return to play for the remainder of the tournament, teams will now be able to select temporary stand-in players. This is only for the current season of the IPL and will not be used next year.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India or BCCI issued a message to all the IPL teams on May 14th. In this message, they clarified that since some players are unavailable for injury, personal reasons, or national commitments, teams have the option to introduce temporary players up to the end of this season of IPL. IPL COO Hemang stated that this is a special decision taken for supporting teams in these challenging situations.
The BCCI also stated that these replacement players for the time being will not be retained with the teams automatically next year. They would have to re-register for the IPL Player Auction for 2026. However, if a player was already replaced prior to the halt of the IPL, then those replacements can be retained next year without auctioning them off.
Typically, IPL regulations state that a player can be replaced only if he becomes injured or ill prior to the team's 12th match. Due to the fact, however, that the IPL was forced to be suspended and will now conclude after the initial completion date of May 25th, the BCCI altered this regulation to provide additional replacements for the remainder of the season.
For instance, Mustafizur Rahman is replacing Jake Fraser-McGurk, who left the team due to personal reasons and will not feature this season at all. The BCCI refers to Mustafizur as a replacement on a temporary basis. Additional teams are also likely to introduce temporary players since some of the original players will not be returning.
This new regulation makes teams strong even if some players are absent for a period of time. It also makes the tournament fair and interesting to fans because teams can maintain their teams ready to play with quality players.
In short the IPL is allowing teams to bring in replacement players to cover players who cannot play for the remainder of the season because of injury personal matters or national obligations. These replacement players will remain only for this season and have to return to the auction pool next year. The modification came in since the IPL had to suspend and now conclude later than anticipated. This will assist teams in dealing with their teams and preserve the competition running smoothly until completion.
