The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 resumes after an eight-day suspension due to the India-Pakistan tensions as RCB clash against KKR at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, May 17.
The tournament however, will have some key names missing with the likes of Mitchell Starc and Jake Fraser-McGurk opting to skip as well as the likes of Jamie Overton and Sam Curran.
Gujarat Titans player Jos Buttler will miss the playoff stage to take on the mantle of England duty with the West Indies white-ball tour. Furthermore, RCB also have question marks over the availability of their star pacer, Josh Hazlewood.
IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal, speaking to The Times Of India, stated that there was 'no pressure' on the international players to participate in the tournament.
"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. Pressurizing players to participate won't produce good quality cricket," he said.
The IPL 2025 final will be played on June 3, with the playoffs to be played from May 29 onwards. The venues of the playoffs will be announced later.
As per the BCCI statement, the playoffs will start with Qualifier 1 on May 29, Eliminator on May 30 with the Qualifier 2 to take place on June 1.
