During the last stages of the rescheduled 2025 season, the IPL will let teams to sign temporary substitute players; however, teams will not be able to keep those players before the following auction.
A few players will have calendar conflicts as a result of the league’s resumption on Saturday, following its suspension due to tensions between India and Pakistan across the border. For the remainder of the season, most international players will return to India, although others, like Jamie Overton of the Chennai Super Kings and Jake Fraser-McGurk of the Delhi Capitals, have withdrawn.
If an illness or injury occurs during or before a team’s 12th match of the season, the IPL’s regulations allow them to sign substitutes.
To allow for the signing of temporary substitutes for the remaining games of the rescheduled season, the league has decided to alter such regulations.
The league’s suspension will prevent any interim substitutes from being retained for the upcoming season. Instead of signing replacements for valid reasons, the measure appears to be intended to prevent a scenario in which franchises are essentially encouraged to do so in order to get around the auction process.
In a message to teams, the IPL stated that it has “reassessed” the replacement regulations. “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,” said the league.
“This decision is contingent on the players selected as Temporary Replacements from now on not being eligible for retention in the subsequent year. The IPL Player Auction 2026 will require players who are temporary replacements to register.
Additionally, the IPL explained that any replacements who were accepted before to the league’s suspension are still eligible to be kept for the upcoming season. Four players—Mayank Agarwal of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Nandre Burger of the Rajasthan Royals, and Sediqullah Atal of the Delhi Capitals—were signed in the 48 hours prior to suspension.
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