Three teams have secured their places in the IPL 2025 playoffs following Gujarat Titans’ (GT) victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) on Sunday night. The three teams are GT, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).

The result left just one playoff spot available, with DC, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in contention for it.

GT’s win on Sunday put them on top of the table with 18 points, followed by RCB and PBKS in second and third place respectively with 17 points each.

All of them have played 12 games. The maximum LSG can get if they win their remaining three games is 16 points; while only one of MI (currently on 14) and DC (currently on 13) can get to 17 or more because they play each other on May 21, ESPNcricinfo reported. 

If DC lose to MI, they will be eliminated. If MI lose to DC, they will need to win their final fixture against PBKS and hope that DC lose their last league match to PBKS, and for LSG to lose at least one of their remaining three games.

GT are making the playoffs for the third time in four IPL seasons; RCB for the fifth time in six years. PBKS are guaranteed a top-four finish for the first time since IPL 2014. 

The turnaround is a landmark moment for the franchise under their new captain Shreyas Iyer and coach Ricky Ponting, ESPNcricinfo reported.

While GT, RCB and PBKS have booked their places in the playoffs, they are still competing to finish in the top two, which will give them two chances of making the final. 

The teams that finish one and two on the points table play each other in Qualifier 1 for a direct route to the final. The loser of Qualifier 1 plays the winner of the Eliminator (between teams that finish No. 3 and 4) for a place in the final.

Most foreign players, with a few exceptions, are expected to return for IPL 2025 when the tournament resumes on Saturday, May 17, after a week-long suspension due to cross-border conflict between India and Pakistan. 

Gujarat Titans, who are sitting at the top of the points table, are undoubtedly pleased that England batter Jos Buttler and South Africa fast bowler Gerald Coetzee will rejoin the team today, Wednesday, May 14.

Buttler and Coetzee were the only two overseas players from the GT squad who left India when the tournament was suspended. 

The team’s other overseas players – Rashid Khan, Sherfane Rutherford, Kagiso Rabada and Karim Janat – had stayed with the rest of the squad in India.

However, some players will leave before playoffs, including Rutherford who has been named in the West Indies ODI squad for the series in England from May 29 to June 3.

With Buttler named in England’s white-ball squads, there is a chance that he could also miss the playoffs. 

“We’re keen to support the IPL and the BCCI in getting the schedule up and running, and to facilitate players’ return should they choose to go back,” an England Cricket Board spokesperson said on Tuesday after the squad announcement.

GT, who currently lead the points table with 16 points – ahead of Royal Challengers Bengaluru on net run rate – have three matches left in the league phase. 

Their next match is on Sunday, May 18, against Delhi Capitals in Delhi.

The Australian pair of Pat Cummins and Travis Head are likely to rejoin the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) squad although both players were named in Australia’s Test squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa at Lord’s from June 11.

Their departure last week from India raised questions over whether they would return for the IPL considering SRH are already out of contention for the playoffs.

Other teams could however face a few setbacks as Jacob Bethell, from Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Will Jacks, from Mumbai Indians, also appear set to miss the rearranged IPL 2025 playoffs after they were named in England’s squad for a home ODI series against West Indies.

Bethell and Jacks, who both left the country last week, will return to India for their team’s next two fixtures.

England named a 16-man squad on Tuesday for their three-match ODI series against West Indies, which starts on May 29. 

The IPL’s group stage now runs until May 27, with the playoffs starting on May 29 and running until the final on June 3. 

Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians are all well-placed to qualify for the final stages.

Jofra Archer, from Rajasthan Royals, and Jamie Overton, from Chennai Super Kings, were also named in the ODI squad, but their franchises have already been knocked out of contention for the IPL’s knockout stages. 

According to ESPNcricinfo, Overton is unlikely to return to India for the league’s resumption.

While Bethell’s absence is a blow for RCB, their two other English players, Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt, are set to be available for the rest of the IPL after they were dropped from England’s ODI squad. 

Salt has been included for the T20I series which starts on June 6, three days after the IPL final, while Livingstone has been left out entirely.

Meanwhile there are two players in the West Indies ODI squad likely to be affected by the clash of dates: Romario Shepherd (RCB) and Sherfane Rutherford (GT). 

Shamar Joseph is also involved in both the ODI squad and the IPL, though his team, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), are not well-placed to qualify for the playoffs.

Shepherd and Rutherford were both expected to miss West Indies’ ODIs against Ireland from May 21-25, and they will likely be allowed to stay at the IPL until their respective franchises’ seasons are over. 

Meanwhile, three Punjab Kings overseas players – Xavier Bartlett, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mitchell Owen – have confirmed that they will return to play the remainder of IPL 2025.

There is no confirmation yet on whether their other overseas players – Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Josh Inglis, and Aaron Hardie – will return to India. 

Jansen and Inglis were named in South Africa and Australia’s Test squads respectively for the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s from June 11.

Despite all the PBKS overseas players returning home, most of their overseas coaching staff stayed in India, including head coach Ricky Ponting and assistant coaches Brad Haddin and James Hopes. The franchise has asked its players and support staff to reassemble in the next two days.

The IPL released the revised schedule for the remainder of the season on Monday: there are 13 league games to go, in addition to the four playoff fixtures.

The rest of the league phase will be played at six venues – Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru – while the venues for the playoffs have not yet been announced.

The dates for the playoffs are as follows: Qualifier 1 on May 29, the Eliminator on May 30, Qualifier 2 on June 1 and the final on June 3.

Ariana Television Network will meanwhile resume its broadcast of the tournament from Saturday. Fans across Afghanistan can tune in on Ariana Television to watch the matches live. 

Fans can also keep an eye on Ariana News and Ariana Television’s websites and social media pages for the last news, updates and schedules. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to resume the Indian Premier League (IPL) following the recent ceasefire agreement between New Delhi and Pakistan. 

The tournament was suspended last week due to clashes between the two neighboring countries. However, the BCCI said on Monday night it will resume matches from this Saturday, May 17 and the tournament will run through until June 3. 

The BCCI said in a statement late Monday that “after extensive consultations with government and security agencies, and with all the key stakeholders, the board has decided to proceed with the remainder of the season.”

The remainder of the IPL matches will be played across six venues, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru will host defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday followed by one of two double-headers Sunday.

Jaipur, Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai and Ahmedabad are the other host cities for the remaining league phase matches.

The venues for the four play-off ties, including the final on 3 June, will be announced later.

The original hosts for the playoffs were Hyderabad and Kolkata, with the final at Eden Gardens on 25 May.

The first qualifier will now be on 29 May, followed by the eliminator on 30 May. The second qualifier is slated for 1 June and the final two days later.

The IPL was suspended for a week last Friday, a day after a match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals was abandoned in Dharamsala, less than 200 kilometres from the northern city of Jammu, where explosions were reported hours earlier.

A special train was arranged for players to return to Delhi on Friday as airspace was closed, while overseas stars began to head home on Saturday.

Cricket Australia (CA) meanwhile said in a statement on Tuesday that their players were shaken by the events that led to suspension of the 18th edition of the tournament. /”

As a result, the board has left it to the players to decide whether they want to return or not, even for the players who will have little time to prepare for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final against South Africa which starts just a week after the IPL 2025 final. 

“Cricket Australia will support players in their individual decisions whether to return to India or not,” CA said in a statement.

“Team management will work through preparation implications for the World Test Championship final for those players who choose to play in the remaining IPL matches.

 “We are maintaining communication with the Australian Government and BCCI around security arrangements and safety.”

WTC-bound players

Australia’s WTC 2025 final-bound players in the IPL 2025 are Delhi Capitals’ (DC) Mitchell Starc, Punjab Kings’ (PBKS) Josh Inglis, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) Josh Hazlewood and Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) Pat Cummins and Travis Head. 

Hazlewood is unlikely to return to India as he picked up a shoulder injury. According to an Australian media outlet, Starc’s manager said that the left-arm pacer may also not return to India for the remainder of the tournament. 

Australian SRH players will have plenty of time to return and prepare for the WTC final as their last league match is on May 25. The finalists of the previous edition are already out of the playoffs race.

Fans across Afghanistan can meanwhile tune in to Ariana Television from Saturday to watch all the remaining matches live. Fans can also follow Ariana News and Ariana Television’s social media pages for updates, news and revised schedules.