Now officially a big addition in 2025 IPL, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has replaced England's Jacob Bethell with New Zealand's wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert. Bethell has been called back to join the England team for a future series against the West Indies, starting on May 29, so had to leave the IPL early. Seifert is an explosive batter and competent wicketkeeper, and is seen as bringing both firepower and experience to the RCB team.
🔊 𝑶𝑭𝑭𝑰𝑪𝑰𝑨𝑳 𝑨𝑵𝑵𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑪𝑬𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻 🔊
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 22, 2025
New Zealand's explosive wicketkeeper batter, Tim Seifert, has been named as RCB’s temporary replacement for Jacob Bethell, who returns to England for national duties after our SRH match. 🙌
Welcome to #ನಮ್ಮRCB, Bam Bam! 🤩… pic.twitter.com/4TuFJdUHpY
RCB has signed Seifert for ₹2 crore and he will take Bethell's spot immediately. Seifert played for Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League and is a relatively established international player. RCB management will certainly hope that this signing is beneficial to the franchise as it seeks its first IPL title. Seifert's considerable international experience should help RCB as it strives to make it to the playoffs.
RCB's management will hope that the addition of Seifert provides additional depth and stability to the squad in IPL 2025 as RCB tries to forge a new path to the IPL trophy and overcome the struggles in past IPL seasons who have stood between the squad and winning their first IPL title.