Cricket news: Five English players to watch at IPL 2026 as Royal Challengers Bengaluru defend title

With the IPL kicking off this Saturday, Sports News Blitz writer Sai Raghav Balakrishnan looks at five English players who will be looking to make their mark on the competition.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) kick off the world’s premium franchise tournament on March 28.

Twelve English players, ranging from first-team essentials to bench-warmers, will aim to enhance their reputation on the white-ball circuit.

Seasoned professionals like Jos Buttler and Phil Salt are seeking their best form after a disappointing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone wants to put his England troubles to one side as he goes about bolstering the Sunrisers middle order.

Players like Jacob Bethell, Jordan Cox, and Jamie Overton will likewise hope that they get the opportunity to perform on the pitch, with competition around the four overseas slots at their respective franchises extremely high.

Jos Buttler – Gujarat Titans (GT)

Arguably one of England’s best white-ball players of all time, the 35-year-old has endured a torrid time of late, scoring only 87 runs in eight innings at the T20 World Cup – at a paltry strike rate of just 116.

His place in the English set-up has come under scrutiny, but Buttler, on his podcast, For the Love of Cricket, has expressed a desire to continue representing the Three Lions.

He is also an extremely vital cog in the top-heavy Gujarat Titans, with the team heavily reliant on him, Shubman Gill, and Sai Sudharshan to make the runs.

Gujarat will hope that Buttler can replicate his 2025 IPL form, when he scored 538 runs, averaging 59 at an impressive strike-rate of 163.

Indeed, Gill, Sudharshan, and Buttler combined to score 1967 runs last year – a mammoth 72.54 per cent of the team’s total runs.

A dip in performance from Buttler could thus prove costly for the 2022 champions as it could expose their unproven middle order.

Phil Salt – Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

The other half of England’s misfiring opening pair, Salt has had a mediocre 2026, averaging only 17.70 while striking at 148.73 – his lowest for both metrics since his England career began in 2022. 

The Welsh-born cricketer has won two consecutive IPLs with different franchises, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and his current team, playing an instrumental role in both.

His ability to hit boundaries all over the ground, especially in the power play, proved crucial in RCB’s triumph last year, and his partnership with Virat Kohli was the perfect mix of classical strokemaking and belligerent power hitting.

Salt will probably be RCB’s first-choice opener, but he will be aware that a low run of scores could see him get replaced by compatriot Jacob Bethell, who opened in his absence for a couple of games last year.

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Liam Livingstone – Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Liam Livingstone has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, publicly criticising Rob Key and the set-up of English cricket.

He accused the current England team environment of operating like a clique, saying: “If you’re in, you’re in, and if you’re not in, no one cares about you.”

The 32-year-old may have been discarded by the England national team, but his 13 crore (£1.06 million) contract with SRH shows the demand for him in the franchise circuit, with teams valuing his ability to attack both spin and pace while offering a useful spin option.

Livingstone burst onto the IPL scene in 2022, when he smashed 437 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 182.08 for Punjab Kings (PBKS).

However, since 2023, his form has dwindled, relegating him to a bit-part role in RCB’s title run last year.

In the games he did play, Livingstone only scored 112 runs at a declining strike rate of 133.33.

SRH will at least take confidence from the Lancashire man’s performances throughout The Hundred and the Vitality Blast last year.

He scored 241 runs for Birmingham Phoenix, averaging a healthy 40.16 while striking at 155.28 against high-quality bowling attacks.

Exhibiting his all-round prowess, he also took seven wickets at a miserly economy rate of 7.36.

When Livingstone is on form, his ability to access all parts of the ground is unparalleled, and SRH will hope that he returns to his aggressive best.

The all-rounder will likely have a point to prove to both the public and the England management, and hopefully he can translate his promise into a consistent run of performances.

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Jofra Archer – Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Archer had a mixed T20 World Cup, taking 11 wickets at a high economy rate of 9.53.

While he performed well in some games, his semi-final performance against India, where he was bludgeoned for 61 runs in four overs, left a lot to be desired.

The explosive fast bowler can rip teams apart during the power play and serve as a decent death bowling option as well.

Rajasthan will hope that Archer can hit the 145-150 kph mark regularly as they look to rebuild after a disappointing 2025 season.

The Barbadian-born cricketer also holds the unwanted record of most runs conceded in an IPL spell, which happened against SRH last year.

Ishan Kishan and co. trashed him for 76 runs in his allotted overs, exposing his frailties on the sub-continent.

He somewhat recovered in the following games, delivering a few rapid spells with the new ball and ending up with 11 wickets at an average of 39.18.

RR definitely want Archer fit and firing for the full season as they desperately need a spearhead for an attack that heavily misfired last year – the franchise took the fewest wickets and, on average, conceded 198 per game, joint-worst with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

With an explosive batting order to boot, an in-form Archer may prove the difference if Rajasthan want to reach the play-offs for the seventh time.

Will Jacks – Mumbai Indians (MI)

Will Jacks comes into this year’s IPL with his reputation greatly enhanced by a terrific T20 World Cup campaign, where he scored 226 runs and took nine wickets.

Generally plying his trade as a top-order batsman for England and the franchises he has represented, his transformation to a brutal finisher at number seven was a shock to most.

He averaged 56.50 with the bat while striking at an incredible 176.56, also taking a wicket every 13 balls during England’s semi-final run.

The Surrey cricketer had a decent season last year, scoring 233 runs and taking six wickets, but it will be extremely interesting to see how Mumbai use him in their team.

With his best performances now coming at number seven, Mumbai could deploy him and captain Hardik Pandya in the finisher roles – a scary prospect for opposition teams.

Jacks has performed adequately the past two seasons, but with his confidence at an all-time high, this season could define him as one of the best all-rounders going around the franchise circuit.

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