The 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) has largely been marked by teams bringing in replacements. So far, 17 players have been signed as injury replacements, with eight of them coming in the last eight days alone. Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have been hit the hardest, each requiring three replacement players.
Surprisingly, CSK and Sunrisers-despite already being knocked out of the IPL-have continued to bring in replacement players. While these signings may not impact the remainder of this season, as both teams are now only playing for pride, it suggests that franchises are already beginning to strategise for the 2026 edition.
As per IPL rules, teams can retain both the original player and their replacement for the following season. A case in point is Rajat Patidar and Vijaykumar Vyshak-after Patidar was ruled out in 2023, Vyshak was brought in as his replacement. For the 2024 season, RCB retained both players. This rule gives teams considerable flexibility when it comes to building and strengthening their squads for 2026.
Is CSK building towards a new future?
The Super Kings have endured a disappointing campaign, becoming the first team to be knocked out of the tournament. The five-time champions have looked a shadow of their former selves. They stuck to their tried-and-tested formula of relying on experienced players-a strategy that has brought them success over the years-but it backfired this time.
By the time they recognised the need for change, it was already too late. However, the team now appears to be looking ahead to next season, bringing in several promising youngsters who have already demonstrated their potential in their respective roles.
Ayush, Brevis step up
Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis wouldn’t have featured for the Super Kings had Ruturaj Gaikwad and Gurjapneet Singh not been ruled out of the IPL. Seventeen-year-old Mhatre became the third-youngest player to score a fifty in the league, smashing 94 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Brevis has stepped up impressively, amassing 126 runs at an average of 31.50 and a strike rate of 163.63. Urvil Patel, who debuted against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), made a quick impact with 31 runs off just 11 balls at Eden Gardens. With these performances, the Super Kings appear well-covered in terms of replacement players.
Among other teams, the Delhi Capitals replaced Harry Brook with young Afghan batter Sediqullah Atal, who rose to prominence as the leading run-scorer in the Emerging Men’s Asia Cup. Meanwhile, Mitchell Owen, fresh off a century in the BBL final at Bellerive Oval, has been picked up by the Punjab Kings.
The Sunrisers added Vidarbha’s Harsh Dubey as a replacement for Smaran Ravichandran. For those unfamiliar, Dubey recently made history by claiming the most wickets in a single Ranji Trophy season (69). While the IPL campaign may be over for some teams, there’s still plenty for them to build on.
Here’s the list of replacement players in IPL 2025
Chennai Super Kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad: Ayush Mhatre
Vansh Bedi: Urvil Patel
Gurjapneet Singh: Dewald Brevis
Delhi Capitals
Harry Brook: Sediqullah Atal
Gujarat Titans
Glenn Phillips: Dasun Shanaka
Kolkata Knight Riders
Umran Malik: Chetan Sakariya
Lucknow Super Giants
Mohsin Khan: Shardul Thakur
Mumbai Indians
Lizaad Williams: Corbin Bosch
Allah Ghazanfar: Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Vignesh Puthur: Raghu Sharma
Punjab Kings
Glenn Maxwell: Mitchell Owen
Rajasthan Royals
Nitish Rana: Lhuan-dre Pretorius
Sandeep Sharma: Nandre Burger
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Devdutt Padikkal: Mayank Agarwal
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Adam Zampa: R. Smaran
R. Smaran: Harsh Dubey
Brydon Carse: Wiaan Mulder
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