The 2021 IPL resumes this week after a four-month COVID-induced hiatus with 10 English players set to feature.

A combination of various international commitments, the looming T20 World Cup and fatigue after another year dominated by COVID-19 have led to a number of withdrawals from the competition, leaving the tournament without a number of familiar faces.

At the time of writing, there will be 10 English players at the tournament. Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler – all of whom competed in the first leg of the competition – have opted out of the remainder of the tournament.

Here are the 10 English players left in the competition and how likely they are to play:

Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings)

Moeen’s move to MS Dhoni’s CSK has seen the England all-rounder thrive in a role better suited to his strengths. A destructive hitter of spin, Moeen played six games in the first leg of the competition striking at over 155 and bowling with an economy rate under seven.

Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings)

While what Curran’s future as a Test cricketer might look like remains unclear, there is no doubting his prowess in T20 cricket. At 23, Curran has already played 30 IPL games and seems to have earned the trust of Dhoni in that CSK side.

George Garton (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

One of two English players brought in as replacements for the back-end of the competition. Garton, a left-arm quick with a whippy action who also triples up as a gun fielder and handy lower-order batter, has had a good season in white-ball cricket, picking up a winner’s medal in The Hundred and playing an important role in Sussex’s run to Finals Day in the T20 Blast. Will he play? Possibly. His left-arm angle will give Kohli’s attack something different and big-money signing Kyle Jamieson was expensive in the first half of IPL 2021.

Liam Livingstone (Rajasthan Royals)

The withdrawals of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer seriously hamper the Royals’ chance of clawing back into play-off contention. However, those absences are likely to mean that Liam Livingstone – the player of the English white-ball summer – gets a run of games in the biggest franchise T20 competition on the planet. With the IPL and T20 World Cup to come in the next two months, Livingstone should get the opportunity to show the world exactly what he’s capable of.

Chris Jordan (Punjab Kings)

One of Eoin Morgan’s most trusted men in the England T20I side, Jordan has found life in the IPL tougher than he generally does for England. He played three games in the opening leg of the competition but given the withdrawals of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith he may find himself more likely to play than he was before.

Adil Rashid (Punjab Kings)

Finally, Rashid gets his first opportunity in the IPL. For so long pivotal in England’s plans, Rashid may yet find IPL game-time hard to come by. Leg-spin is an area reasonably well covered by Punjab’s domestic players – both Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin are effective IPL operators. They are unlikely to use an overseas slot in an area where they have multiple dependable domestic operators.

Eoin Morgan (Kolkata Knight Riders)

The England captain returns to skipper KKR, who are currently languishing in seventh place. Barring an unlikely chain of events, expect Morgan to remain an ever-present in the KKR side.

Jason Roy (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Bairstow’s withdrawal improves Roy’s prospects of playing but with David Warner and Kane Williamson competing for top-order options as well, it’s not going to be easy for Roy to barge his way into the first choice SRH XI.

Tom Curran (Delhi Capitals)

Tom Curran has generally found life difficult in the IPL – his economy rate across three tournaments is more than 11 runs per over. With Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje in the Delhi squad, he is likely to find game-time hard to come by.

Sam Billings (Delhi Capitals)

Curran’s Delhi teammate is in a similar situation. He didn’t play a game in the first leg of the tournament and is likely to remain behind Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer and even Steve Smith in the pecking order.