Which England players have left the IPL and how teams can cope with their absence

A number of England players recently left their Indian Premier League (IPL) team camps as they headed back home to join the national squad ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup that will begin in West Indies and USA from 1 June. England are slated to play Pakistan in a four-match T20I series at home from 22 May, whereas they begin their title defence at the T20 World Cup against Scotland in Barbados on 4 June.

Liam Livingstone, who plays for Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL, left for England on Monday in a bid to recover from a knee injury, whereas RR’s Jos Buttler and RCB duo Will Jacks and Reece Topley also took the flight back home. The remaining England players like Sam Curran and Moeen Ali are expected to fly to the United Kingdom towards the end of the week.

Players leaving midway through the IPL, especially with the playoffs nearing closer, can hamper teams’ preparations for matches to come. So, which teams have been affected by England players leaving? And how can they cope up? We take a look:

Punjab Kings

England players leaving team: Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran

As mentioned earlier, Liam Livingstone has already left the PBKS team camp and left for England on Tuesday. Following suit will be his national teammates Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran. Ever since regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan suffered a shoulder injury in mid-April, Sam Curran has led PBKS. PBKS, however, have already been eliminated from the IPL this season and lie rock-bottom of the standings with eight points from 12 matches.

PBKS bowling coach Sunil Joshi had recently said that his team was hopeful of Dhawan’s return for the last two matches, but remains to be seen as to who will lead Punjab Kings if Dhawan doesn’t come back.

As far as Curran is concerned, Nathan Ellis looks the likely candidate to replace him in the playing XI. Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza is a like-for-like replacement for Livingstone but it has not been confirmed whether he has rejoined the squad after taking part in a T20I series in Bangladesh.

It’s going to be tough for PBKS to replace a b atter like Jonny Bairstow , but if there’s one cricketer, that could be South Africa’s Rile Rossouw. Rossouw, however, has just a lone fifty to his name a[part from knocks of 43 and 26 against CSK and KKR respectively.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

England players leaving team: Will Jacks and Reece Topley

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have scripted a comeback of sorts in the second half of IPL 2024. Part of that reason is the resurgence of Will Jacks, who had scored an unbeaten century against Gujarat Titans. Jacks was slowly finding his feet at RCB with that century and a fifty against KKR prior to that, but his absence for RCB’s last league game against CSK will be a huge blow.

Glenn Maxwell is the likeliest replacement for Jacks but the Australian has struggled for consistency, scoring just five runs from four innings.

As for Reece Topley, who has taken four wickets from as many matches, he hasn’t been a regular for RCB this season. Topley’s absence may not hinder RCB that much given he was expensive on a few occasions, but RCB bowlers led by Mohammed Siraj will have their task cut out for sure.

Kolkata Knight Riders

England players leaving team: Phil Salt

Explosive opener Phil Salt is the only England player from the KKR squad who will fly back. He built formidable opening partnerships with West Indian Sunil Narine this season, with the duo enjoying a combined runs tally of 896 runs from 12 matches. Salt has scored 435 runs at a strike-rate of 182.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is the most straightforward replacement for Salt, although KKR do have another option in KS Bharat. But that would mean looking at another overseas player in the XI, with either Sherfane Rutherford, Dishmantha Chameera or Allah Ghazanfar being the options.

Rajasthan Royals

England players leaving team:  Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler has been crucial for RR this season. He has scored 259 runs from 11 matches, and while his strike-rate of 140.78 is not among the best, the England skipper has had his moments this season. For example, the unbeaten centuries against RCB and KKR. He was also often used as an impact player by RR and even single-handedly took on KKR to complete a miraculous chase .

RR can look at fellow English cricketer Tom Kohler-Cadmore, although the 29 year-old is yet to make his IPL debut and hasn’t played for England thus far. Another option is opening with Dhruv Jurel, which would give RR flexibility and include Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell in the XI.

Even Sanju Samson, the skipper himself is another choice for the openers’ slot along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, given the exploits Samson has produced with the bat.

Chennai Super Kings

England players leaving: Moeen Ali

Barring a couple of matches, Moeen Ali did not have an IPL to remember with CSK this year, but he still was pivotal for the defending champions. He’s taken just four wickets and his most notable performance with the bat was a fifty against GT.

CSK are already missing the services of Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman and Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana. Richard Gleeson, who is not part of England’s T20 World Cup squad, and Mitchell Santner area couple of overseas options, and having said that it’s going to be a tough call for the five-time champions to replace Moeen.