Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Harshit Rana may miss a major part of IPL 2026 as he recovers from the knee surgery he underwent in February. He is currently undergoing rehab and BCCI’s medical team is yet to give a date on his return, ESPNcricinfo reported.
IPL 2026 begins on March 28 and if Rana misses it then it will be the second big tournament he would miss after being ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2026, which India won.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Rana, who won Best International Debutant at the BCCI awards on Sunday, had suffered a ligament strain in his right knee and pulled out after bowling just one over in the warm-up game before the T20 World Cup 2026. He was replaced by Mohammed Siraj, who just played India’s opening match against USA.
KKR will also miss out on the services of Mustafizur Rahman for IPL 2026, after the franchise was instructed by the BCCI to release the left-arm pacer from the squad because of geopolitical tensions between India and Bangladesh. KKR brought in Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who gave up his deal with Islamabad United in the PSL last week.
KKR’s fast bowling unit for IPL 2026 include Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, and there are allrounders in Cameron Green and Ramandeep Singh who could bowl.
KKR start their campaign in IPL 2026 on March 29 in an away match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. In the first phase of IPL schedule announced, KKR also take on Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants, all to be played at the Eden Gardens.
