IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals request overseas players on loan from other franchises

Rajasthan Royals is the most affected franchise as four of their overseas players have either pulled out or ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). While Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have been ruled out of the tournament due to injury, Liam Livingstone flew back to England last week citing bubble fatigue as the reason. Andrew Tye was the latest cricketer to pull himself out due to the prevailing COVID situation in India.

This has resulted in them having only four overseas players up their sleeves for the rest of the tournament. The franchise, meanwhile, is understood to have written to the other franchises seeking players on loan. At this stage they are left with only Mustafizur Rahman, David Miller, Jos Buttler, and Chris Morris all of whom have played most of the team’s matches this season.

Also, as per the IPL playing conditions, the loan window activates at 9 AM IST on the day following the 20th league game and ends at noon IST on the day following the 56th league match scheduled for the season. According to the rule, the window got activated on Monday (April 26) morning.

“We have received a request from them a couple of days ago and we have not decided on it. The team management will take a call,” a CEO of the southern-based franchise told Cricbuzz. “We will consider if we can loan them a player or two from our surpluses,” the CEO of another franchise said.

What is the rule?

According to the rules, a player who has played, at the start of the window, less than two matches can be loaned. Moreover, a player can be transferred only once and it will be for the rest of the league phase and he won’t play against his home franchise. Also, the player has to give his consent for him to be transferred while no franchise can loan more than three of its players to the same team during the season.