Gujarat Titans sign Kusal Mendis as Jos Buttler set to leave for national duties

Gujarat Titans (GT) have picked Kusal Mendis as a replacement for Jos Buttler, who is set to leave for national duties on May 26, 2025, following GT’s last league-stage game against Chennai Super Kings on May 25, 2025. The replacement will be effective from May 26, 2025.

With England playing a white ball series with West Indies starting from May 29, Buttler’s participation in the remainder of the season was very unlikely. Kusal Mendis was part of the Pakistan Super League for the Quetta Gladiators, but now he will join Gujarat as a replacement for Jos Buttler. With this, he became the second Sri-Lankan player to be acquired in the IPL 2025 mid-season. Earlier, Dasun Shanaka was acquired by the franchise in place of Glenn Phillips.

The England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement that they will support the BCCI in running the tournament. Since the final part of the tournament will go till June, the playoffs will overlap with England’s white ball series against West Indies, starting May 29 at Edgbaston.  With the squad announcement for the upcoming tour, Jos Buttler has been picked up in both ODI and T20I Squads for the series and now will not be joining the Gujarat Titans, who are in strong contention to make it through the playoffs.

Jos Buttler was in dominant form this season and was among the top performers for the Gujarat Titans along with Skipper Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan. But with Butler opting out, Mendis will join GT for INR 75 Lakh.