Seifert named as Bethell's temporary replacement at RCB

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have signed New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert as a temporary replacement for England's Jacob Bethell. Seifert is currently playing for Karachi Kings in the PSL and his arrival into India will depend on how his team progresses. He's available to be picked from May 24, the IPL said in a press release.

Kings are set to play the PSL Eliminator against Lahore Qalandars on Thursday night, while the PSL final is slated for May 25 in Lahore. This means the latest he can link up with RCB is on May 26 in Lucknow, a day prior to their final league fixture against Lucknow Super Giants.

Opening the innings with David Warner at Kings, Seifert has so far scored 226 runs in nine innings as an opener at a strike rate of 145.80 with a best of 47. Seifert has previously featured in the IPL, all too briefly, for Delhi Capitals (two matches in 2022) and Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL 2021).

Seifert's signing comes on the back of Bethell's unavailability due to national commitments. Bethell is set to leave for England after Friday's fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which was moved from Bengaluru to Lucknow owing to adverse weather conditions in south India.

Bethell has so far featured in two matches for RCB in his maiden IPL season. Replacing an unwell Phil Salt in the line-up, Bethell struck a 33-ball 55 in his previous innings against Chennai Super Kings on May 3. That, incidentally, remains RCB's most-recent outing in the tournament too; their home fixture against Kolkata Knight Riders upon IPL's resumption following a ten-day break was abandoned in Bengaluru last Saturday.

Bethell aside, RCB are uncertain over the availability of Australia quick Josh Hazlewood, who is currently in Brisbane at CA's High-Performance Centre in preparation for next month's World Test Championship final.

Last Friday, RCB director Mo Bobat said they'd been in touch with CA over Hazlewood, but that they were adopting a wait-and-watch approach as he recovers from a shoulder niggle that he picked up ahead of RCB's fixture against CSK.

Meanwhile, South Africa quick Lungi Ngidi too will miss the playoffs for RCB as he prepares for the WTC final. Last week, Ngidi was replaced by Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani as a short-term replacement.

RCB are currently chasing a top-two spot, having won eight out of their 11 matches in the league phase. They next play on Friday against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Lucknow before rounding off their league stages by playing Lucknow Super Giants.