WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – MARCH 26: Tim Seifert of New Zealand bats during game five of the Men’s T20 series between New Zealand and Pakistan at Sky Stadium, on March 26, 2025, in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday has signed Tim Seifert as Jacob Bethell’s replacement, who is set to leave for England national duties.“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,” RCB said in a statement.Tim Seifert has played 66 T20Is and has 1540 runs against his name from the same. He will join RCB for Rs 2 Crore.The 30-year-old has earlier played for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2021 and 2022, respectively.

The 21-year-old Bethell had featured in two matches for RCB, scoring 67 with 55 being his highest score against the Chennai Super Kings. Bethell will be available for RCB’s final league-stage match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 23 before his departure.The replacement will be effective from May 24. Who’s that IPL player?Their final league game will be against Lucknow Super Giants on May 27.Punjab Kings, Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians are the other teams to have made the play-offs.Jos Buttler, who is representing Gujarat Titans, too would be skipping the play-offs as they clash with England’s home series against the West Indies.