Arun Dhumal, the chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), is certain that the 18th competition will maintain its calibre as it resumes after a one-week break because the majority of the international players have returned.

With Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hosting Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, May 17, IPL 2025 is scheduled to resume. Prior to the match, Dhumal stated that it is reasonable that certain international players have opted to play for their countries rather than

The IPL because the franchise tournament’s business end falls during some crucial international matches.

According to him, making players compete in the 10-team event would not have raised the standard of cricket.

“We do understand there are other commitments. There are players who have national commitments. We factored in this bit since we are going a week beyond the original schedule. It’s an in-house challenge. But most of the players have come back, and I am sure the quality of the league will be maintained. There’s no pressure to participate. All players and boards share good relationships with the BCCI and franchises. Pressurising players to participate won’t produce good-quality cricket,” Dhumal told the Times of India.

Key players missing for RCB in upcoming playoffs round

RCB will be missing the services of a few players in the latter half of the tournament. Josh Hazlewood might return to play for RCB, but not before the playoffs. They are likely to miss the services of Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell, who have been named in England’s squads to face the West Indies in a white-ball series. Lungi Ngidi will also leave India to join his South African teammates to prepare for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

RCB are stationed at No. 2 on the IPL points table, and a win on Saturday against the defending champions will secure the Rajat Patidar-led side a place in the playoffs.