Shepherd and Livingstone rejoin RCB squad

Romario Shepherd has returned to India and will rejoin the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad for the rescheduled last leg of IPL 2025. Shepherd was accompanied by Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) West Indies duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, and their mentor Dwayne Bravo.

Shepherd is part of West Indies' ODI squad for the series against England that starts on May 29, the day the IPL 2025 playoffs kick off. Cricket West Indies is yet to clarify whether the England-bound West Indies players will be allowed to stay back in India to finish IPL duties.

England allrounder Liam Livingstone has also linked up with RCB while Jacob Bethell has already rejoined the team. Bethell is part of England's white-ball squads for the home series against West Indies, while Livingstone has been dropped from both the ODI and T20I sides. Bethell will be available for RCB's next two fixtures - against KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad - and fly home before the match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

RCB are on 16 points from 11 matches and look well-placed to finish in the top four in the IPL 2025 points table and qualify for the playoffs. As reported earlier, Bethell will be among the England players who will miss the playoffs. The ECB granted no-objection certificates (NOCs) to its players until May 25, the original date of the IPL 2025 final. As a result, Bethell was not named in England's squad for the four-day Test match against Zimbabwe that starts May 29.

There is also no clarity yet on the return of Josh Hazlewood and Lungi Ngidi. Hazlewood was likely to miss the remainder of the tournament because of a shoulder niggle had the IPL not been suspended.

Ngidi made his RCB debut in place of Hazlewood on May 3 against Chennai Super Kings and is part of South Africa's squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The WTC final-bound South Africa players are likely to leave the IPL by May 25, meaning he will likely not be available for RCB's last league-stage fixture against LSG.

Phil Salt, whose illness allowed Bethell to make his IPL debut, is set to be available for the remainder of IPL 2025. He is only part of England's squad for the T20Is against West Indies that start on June 6, three days after the revised IPL final.