Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have suffered a major setback ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. Fast bowler Akash Deep has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury.
The Bengal pacer was recovering at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He had joined KKR in the mini auction for INR 1 crore. However, he will now miss the entire season.
This comes as another blow for KKR. Their key Indian pacer Harshit Rana is already out. He picked up an injury during a warm-up match between India and South Africa before the T20 World Cup. He has been ruled out of the full IPL season.
Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana is also facing fitness issues. He is expected to miss the first few matches of IPL 2026.
Saurabh Dubey joins KKR as replacement
KKR management acted quickly after Akash Deep’s exit. They had called several fast bowlers to their training camp in Kolkata. Akash Madhwal, Simarjeet Singh, and Navdeep Saini were among those who attended.
On Sunday, March 22, KKR confirmed Saurabh Dubey as the replacement. He is a left-arm fast bowler from Vidarbha. Dubey was earlier part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad. However, he is yet to make his IPL debut.
“He is a very talented left-arm fast bowler. I remember him touring Bangladesh under Rahul Dravid as part of the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup squad. He gets extra bounce off the wicket and can swing the ball both ways. It’s a good call by the Knight Riders management,” said Subroto Banerjee as quoted by Cricbuzz.
KKR will begin their IPL 2026 campaign against Mumbai Indians. The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium on March 29.
ALSO READ Kolkata Knight Riders bet on big buys in auction, KKR Full Squad for IPL 2026
