Sipu Jha
Three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) roped in Saurabh Dubey for IPL 2026. The 28-year-old left-arm Vidarbha pacer replaces Akash Deep, who has been ruled out of the season. Dubey was signed by the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for IPL 2022 but his stint was cut short due to a back injury.Earlier, KKR had also roped in Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani in place of Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman. KKR had initially signed Mustafizur for Rs 9.2 crore as a backup overseas pacer to Rs 18 crore recruit Matheesha Pathirana, but the Bangladesh left-armer was released following BCCI directives earlier this year amid heightened India-Bangladesh tensions.
India pacer Harshit Rana was also ruled out last week of the entire IPL 2026 owing to the ligament injury that he sustained during a warm-up match ahead of the recent T20 World Cup.
Why haven’t KKR asked for Rana’s replacement?
While KKR got the replacement of both Mustafizur and Akash Deep, they haven’t take a call yet on a replacement for India’s seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana. The impression within the franchise is that there is no suitable Indian replacement for Rana, who has played for India in all formats, Cricbuzz reported on Monday.Since Wednesday, KKR had been organising trials to select replacements of Rana and Akash Deep, as per a report by news agency IANS.KKR are set to kick their IPL 2026 campaign off against the Mumbai Indians on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The three-time champions will then face Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 2 at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, before facing off against last year’s finalists, Punjab Kings, on April 6, also at Eden Gardens.In their fourth IPL match, KKR will face Lucknow Super Giants on April 9 at Eden Gardens.
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