A fresh pick sees Kolkata Knight Riders bring in Saurabh Dubey, a left-armer from Vidarbha, stepping into Akash Deep’s spot for IPL 2026. While recovery work continues in Bengaluru at the CoE, details about the exact issue remain under wraps. The injury specifics still linger without clarity
Dubey is yet to make his IPL debut, with his stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad having been cut short due to an injury. He has come through the eyes of legendary former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, “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, who has worked with Dubey.
Franchise yet to take call on Rana’s replacement
KKR’s preparations took a hit after injuries struck their squad. The Indian pace bowler Harshit Rana won’t play in the upcoming tournament starting March 28 because of a knee problem. According to Cricbuzz, the team still hasn’t decided who might step into his spot. Though details remain unclear, uncertainty lingers around the selection.
Out of luck at the IPL 2026 mini-auction, Dubey didn’t find a buyer. Back in 2022, SRH had brought him in – though an injury quickly ended that run.
That final match was played by him for Vidarbha during the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Earlier, across the 2020–21 Vijay Hazare Trophy season, his presence marked four games representing the same state side.
The rest of the IPL calendar should appear shortly
Now the board says teams will get the rest of the match timetable within a few days. Earlier only twenty games had set dates because voting season delayed plans across several states. With political timelines clear, organizers are moving ahead to release what was left. West Bengal, Assam, and Tamil Nadu needed caution before fixing play times. Cricket bosses waited until government calendars locked in. Details about later rounds were held back just for this reason. Soon every team will know when and where they play next. No more gaps remain in planning since election timing is public now. What came out earlier was partial by design. Finalizing everything became possible once polling schedules appeared.
