Romario Shepherd has made his way back to India, ready to reunite with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team for the postponed final phase of IPL 2025. He was joined by West Indies players Andre Russell and Sunil Narine from Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR), as well as their mentor Dwayne Bravo.
Shepherd was initially chosen for West Indies’ ODI squad for the upcoming series against Ireland (May 21-25) and England, which coincides with the start of the IPL 2025 playoffs on May 29. However, he has now been replaced by Jediah Blades and will continue playing for RCB until the end of the season.
RCB has been strengthened by the addition of England allrounder Liam Livingstone, who joins the team along with Jacob Bethell. While Bethell has returned to the squad after being selected for England’s white-ball squads for their upcoming series against West Indies, Livingstone unfortunately did not make the cut for both the ODI and T20I teams. Bethell will be able to play in RCB’s next two games against KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad before heading back home prior to their match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
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With a solid record of 16 points from 11 games, RCB is on track to secure a spot in the top four on the IPL 2025 points table and secure a spot in the playoffs. As previously mentioned, Bethell will be one of the players from England who will not be participating in the playoffs. This is due to the NOCs granted by ECB to their players until May 25th, which was originally scheduled as the final day for IPL 2025. As a result, Bethell was not included in England’s squad for their upcoming four-day Test match against Zimbabwe, beginning on May 29th.
The status of Josh Hazlewood and Lungi Ngidi’s return remains uncertain. Had the IPL not been suspended, Hazlewood would have most likely been unable to participate due to a shoulder injury.
On May 3, Ngidi stepped in for Hazlewood as he made his RCB debut against Chennai Super Kings. Additionally, he has also been selected to play for South Africa in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final. As most of the WTC-bound South African players are expected to depart from the IPL by May 25, it is unlikely that Ngidi will be able to participate in RCB’s final league game against LSG.
Bethell was able to make his IPL debut due to Phil Salt’s illness, and fortunately, Salt is expected to be fully recovered and available for the rest of IPL 2025. He has also been selected as part of England’s T20I squad that begins on June 6 against West Indies, just three days after the rescheduled IPL final.
