RCB replacement players 2023: How many RCB players have been ruled out of IPL 2023?

Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Will Jacks was the fifth player to be ruled out of the upcoming 16th season of the Indian Premier League. The Englishman followed Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Prasidh Krishna, Chennai Super Kings pacer Kyle Jamieson and Mumbai Indians fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Jhye Richardson to be among list of injured players to miss the tournament.

Jacks, 24, suffered a muscle injury during the recently concluded tour of Bangladesh and will take no part in what would’ve been his maiden appearance in the biggest T20 league in the world.

Having played a couple of matches across each of the three international formats for England, Jacks was bought by RCB for INR 3.2 crore during the mini-auction held in December 2022.

A quintessential all-rounder who has it in him to dominate proceedings in Indian conditions, Jacks would’ve come in handy for Royal Challengers. “Gutted. I’ll be back.,” Jacks had tweeted to express disappointment regarding missing IPL 2023.

RCB replacement players 2023

It was a few days ago that Royal Challengers Bangalore had named New Zealand all-rounder Michael Bracewell as a replacement for Jacks. Bracewell, who was playing a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka at home until today, will miss the subsequent three-match ODI and T20I series to join RCB.

With the Faf du Plessis-led franchise losing out only one player for now, Bracewell remains their only replacement player. Much like Jacks, Bracewell also is more than just capable of contributing across departments. For the unversed, there had been a lot of interest with respect to Bracewell since his career-best knock in the first ODI against India in Hyderabad earlier this year.

Bracewell, 32, will join former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga, New Zealand batter Finn Allen and England pacers David Willey and Reece Topley among eight overseas players at Bangalore this season.

Ideally, Royal Challengers wouldn’t want for any other player to suffer any other type of injury less than a couple of weeks before the start of the tournament. Although there’s no dearth of replacement players, no team would want to make changes after having worked exceedingly hard in the auction.

UPDATE: Rajat Patidar (heel injury) and Reece Topley (dislocated shoulder) have also been ruled out of IPL 2023. Topley has been replaced by South Africa’s Wayne Parnell.

When is RCB first match 2023 IPL?

Bangalore will be kick-starting their journey against Mumbai Indians at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2. Scheduled to be played on April 6, their second match will be their first away match of the season to be played against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.