IPL 2024: How teams will cope with England players returning home?

As reported earlier, the England players have started to return home in the final week of the league stage in IPL 2024. Liam Livingstone, Will Jacks, Reece Topley and Jos Buttler have already left India with rest of England’s T20 World Cup squad to follow soon. 

We look at which teams will be affected and how can they fill those slots: 

Kolkata Knight Riders

Players flying back: Phil Salt

The wicketkeeper batter from England has been a big contributor to KKR’s revival season. While Sunil Narine has hogged most of the limelight, Phil Salt and Narine have similar numbers. 

The opening pair was a welcome change for KKR, as they struggled to find a stable opening pair in the last two seasons. Here, one opening pair did wonders for them throughout the season this time.

However, Kolkata won’t need to change their balance much to replace Salt. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is a like-for-like replacement for the Englishman, both as a glovesman and an attacking opening batter. 

But what they will still miss is Salt’s hitting against pace. Salt averaged 42.2 against pace in the season at a strike rate of 190 in IPL 2024 as compared to 27.5 and 141 versus spin. Gurbaz, on the other hand, is more of a spin hitter, averaging only 20 against pace in T20s since 2023. 

In another approach, KKR can open with KS Bharat, another top-order wicketkeeping batter, and invest the other overseas spot somewhere else in the XI. Dushmantha Chameera (Sri Lanka), Allah Ghazanfar (Afghanistan) and Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies) are their options. But KKR don’t have an open spot for any of them. Hence, Gurbaz replacing Salt seems to be the best way possible. 

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Players flying back: Will Jacks, Reece Topley

RCB would be one of the most affected sides with the England players leaving. They had recently found their best batting combination as Will Jacks sealed his spot at number three. He averaged 32.9 in eight innings this season at a strike rate of 175.6, including a century. He struck at a strike rate in excess of 150 against both pace and spin. 

RCB have Glenn Maxwell as a like-for-like replacement. Earlier, Jacks was perceived as the backup player for the Australian all-rounder. Such has things worked out that tables have turned between them. RCB must be glad they have someone of Maxwell’s pedigree but his form will continue to create doubts. The 35-year old has scored only 36 runs in seven innings this season. 

Not to forget, Maxwell’s comeback may make them change their batting order too. He has mostly played the role of a spin-hitter, which Rajat Patidar is already doing well. Cameron Green has clicked at five in the last couple of games. So does Maxwell bat at three, or he plays at four or five with Green or Patidar moving to three? That remains the only question to answer in terms of replacing Jacks. 

Topley, meanwhile, has not been part of RCB’s playing XII over the last four games. Moreover, RCB’s bowling looks settled, too. Hence, Topley shouldn’t be a big miss for them. 

Rajasthan Royals

Players flying back: Jos Buttler

Life is cruel when you have to miss a player of the quality of Jos Buttler at such a vital stage in the tournament. England’s white-ball skipper may not have been at his absolute best this season but he has still won a couple of games pretty much single-handedly. 

If you consider Yashasvi Jaiswal’s inconsistent form, Buttler’s presence becomes more important for RR who have dropped three games heading into the playoffs. 

In the simplest swap possible, RR can replace Buttler with Tom Kohler-Cadmore. Although TKC hasn’t played any international or IPL cricket, he has been a consistent performer in the T20 circuit around the globe. He played 190 T20s for more than 4700 runs. 

Playing all three of Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer (if all fit) is another option but then they will have to look for an opener within the XI. Dhruv Jurel probably?

In a third possible approach, RR can invest the spot vacated by Buttler in pairing Trent Boult and Nandre Burger again. The duo picked 12 wickets between them in the five matches they played together this season before RR moved away from the tactic. However, that may leave them light on the batting front. Hence, the TKC move seems to be the most likely. 

Chennai Super Kings

Players flying back: Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali didn’t set the IPL on fire but was a vital cog in CSK’s combination jigsaw. Especially with the playoffs in Chennai, they would have cherished his presence as a spin-bowling all-rounder. 

But there is a bigger downside to his absence. Already missing the services of Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman, Moeen leaving further diminishes their overseas options. 

Mitchell Santner and Richard Gleeson are the only two choices in the overseas lot, and would get precedence according to the conditions. Or maybe they can start with three overseas players and also bring the match situation into the picture to decide between the two. 

Punjab Kings

Players flying back: Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran

Placed 10th on the points table and already eliminated, you can imagine PBKS’ plight by the fact that they will lose their stand-in captain with Sam Curran flying back. The last we heard on Shikhar Dhawan’s shoulder injury was when the spin bowling coach Sunil Joshi mentioned that they remain hopeful of his return for the final two games. If he doesn’t then Punjab will have to chose a new captain as well.

Nathan Ellis will replace Curran as a bowler but it will shorten their batting resources a bit. Jonny Bairstow is a big miss given he was providing good starts since his hundred in the record run chase in Kolkata. Filling his spot also rests largely on Dhawan’s return. 

Livingstone didn’t click at all for Punjab, averaging only 22.2 with the bat. Sikandar Raza is the only like-for-like option but there is no news if he has re-joined the PBKS squad since completing national duties in Bangladesh. Thus, Punjab might not be able to field four overseas players in their final two league games. 

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