IPL 2025: Tim Seifert Replaces Star 21-Year-Old Allrounder At RCB As Playoffs Beckon
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Tim Seifert will replace Jacob Bethell in Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad as the latter will join England for ODIs against West Indies starting May 29.
Veteran Kiwi wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert has replaced Jacob Bethell in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru squad, as the latter is all set to leave to perform his duties for the England national team, who will be taking on the West Indies in three ODIs starting May 29.
The replacement will be effective from Saturday, May 24, as Bethell will leave after Bengaluru's match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 23.
Notably, Seifert is playing for the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, and his arrival in India will depend on how his franchise progresses.
Karachi are all set to play the Pakistan Super League Eliminator against the Lahore Qalandars on Thursday night, while the final is slated for Sunday, May 25 in Lahore.
Opening the innings with David Warner in Karachi, Seifert has till now scored 226 runs in nine innings as an opener at a strike rate of 145.8.
Seifert, who has scored 1540 runs in 66 T20s for the Blackcaps, has played just three games in the Indian Premier League and last featured in the tournament three years ago for the Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders. He will join Bengaluru for Rs 2 crores.
Bethell's last match with RCB will be on Friday when they take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad, which was moved from Bengaluru to Lucknow due to adverse weather conditions in the former. Their final league match will be against the Lucknow Super Giants on May 27.
Bethell has till now featured in two games for Bengaluru in his maiden Indian Premier League season.
Last Friday, Bengaluru director Mo Bobat said that they had been in touch with Cricket Australia over Hazlewood, but they were adopting a wait-and-watch approach as he recovers from a shoulder niggle that he picked up ahead of RCB's game against Chennai.
Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans and the Mumbai Indians are the other franchises to have made the play-offs.
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