The IPL (Indian Premier League) 2026 season is all set to begin on March 28, and before the new season, three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders look in trouble as their frontline seamer Harshit Rana is set to miss the majority of the upcoming IPL season.
Rana, for example, will miss most of the IPL 2026 season because he had knee surgery in February 2026. Due to the injury, Rana missed the T20 World Cup 2026 and is now undergoing rehabilitation. It is important to note that the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has not set a date for Rana’s comeback.
Further, if the star player misses the entirety of the IPL 2026, it becomes the second tournament they miss after the world cup. He sustained a ligament strain in his right knee after he pulled out having bowled just one over in the warm-up game against South Africa ahead of the T20 World Cup.
The bowling contingent of Kolkata Knight Riders have now become quite weak in comparison with Rana’s injury. He won’t have the services of Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman as well since he was removed from the squad. Blessing Muzarbani has also been signed up as a replacement player.
The fast bowling options are Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, and the pace all-rounders Cameron Green and Ramandeep Singh, although there are injury concerns with Pathirana too.
Kolkata Knight Riders to take on Mumbai Indians in first IPL 2026 game
Speaking of Kolkata Knight Riders, three-time champions will start their thrill of IPL 2026 by facing the five-time champions Mumbai Indians. The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 29 March.
The two sides will hope for a good showing, as they will hope to start on a good note in the 19th edition of the tournament.
