IPL chairman Arun Dhumal is confident that the quality of the IPL will be maintained despite the absence of key overseas players. He noted that none of the players were pressured to be back for the remainder of the season.
Several overseas players, including Mitchell Starc, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Jofra Archer, and Sam Curran, have already opted out of IPL 2025. Additionally, players like Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, and Aiden Markram are expected to be unavailable for the playoffs, depending on their teams’ qualification.
Despite these absences, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal remains confident that the quality of the tournament will remain high. He acknowledged that many overseas players have prior commitments but expressed satisfaction that several others have decided to participate in the remainder of the season. Dhumal also emphasised that no player was pressured to return, as the board aims to maintain strong relations with other cricket boards.
“We do understand there are other commitments. There are players who have national commitments. We factored in this bit since we are going a week beyond the original schedule. It’s an in-house challenge. But most of the players have come back and I am sure the quality of the league will be maintained. There’s no pressure to participate. All players and boards share good relationships with the BCCI and franchises. Pressurising players to participate won’t produce good quality cricket,” Dhumal told Times of India.
Notably, Delhi suffered a major blow after Starc confirmed of not returning for the rest of the tournament. He played an important part in the team’s success so far. Similarly, Mumbai will miss Jacks and Rickelton, who have done well in the campaign and, most importantly, bat at the top order.
Jonny Bairstow is expected to join the squad in the absence of Rickelton but Mumbai management is yet to confirm the development. On the other hand, Mustafizur will join the DC squad on May 18 to replace Starc. Several other teams are in talks with other teams about possible replacements.