Kolkata Knight Riders was hit by controversy before the IPL 2026 started as the franchise was forced to replace Mustafizur Rahman with Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani. KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar on Wednesday described Muzarabani’s inclusion as a “blessing in disguise”.
After KKR finished eighth last season, the franchise parted ways with Chandrakant Pandit with Nayar being promoted as head coach for IPL 2026. Nayar has been long associated with KKR since Gautam Gambhir’s tenure, and recently was coach of the Women’s Premier League team UP Warriorz.
While welcoming Muzarabani in his first address to the team, “Blessing, you are a blessing in disguise for us,” said Nayar.
“I know we’ve had you sort of folded up in the bus so far, but it’s great to have you, the tallest member ever of this KKR team. Welcome, I hope you enjoy your time with the company of our boys and us,” Nayar added.
Muzarabani picked up 13 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2026 to finish joint second-highest, including a match-winning 4 for 17 against Australia.
The Zimbabwe pacer, who has more than 200 international wickets, is yet to make his IPL debut despite having a previous stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru as a replacement player in 2025 for Lungi Ngidi.
KKR had signed Mustafizur for Rs 9.2 crore but the Bangladesh quick had to be released following BCCI’s instruction earlier this year amid India-Bangladesh tensions. This move didn’t go down well with Bangladesh and they pulled out of the T20 World Cup 2026, refusing to play in India, and later Scotland replacing them in the tournament.
Muzarabani has since joined KKR on a Rs 75 lakh deal after opting out of the Pakistan Super League.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led side began their training session under a revamped support staff with Nayar as head coach, Shane Watson as assistant and Tim Southee as bowling coach, while Dwayne Bravo continues as mentor.
In KKR’s first training session, Nayar stressed the importance of mindset over skill and get stronger as a group.
“We have had a lot of discussions, we have spoken a lot. For me, what happens here is how we tune what’s between our ears.
“The skill is there, that’s not going to change in the next 10 days.
“But what changes is our mentality. So every moment that we spend on this ground, every moment we spend with each other, with the coaches, amongst ourselves, there’s one goal. We have to do one thing, we have to win, we have to get that fourth star.” “And we do everything to prepare our minds before our body actually arrives the first game on the March 29 (against Mumbai Indians in Wankhede).
“We prepare here, we use this time to talk to each other, communicate, get stronger as a group. So we’re ready for everything,” Nayar said.
