Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Harshit Rana is set to miss a major part of IPL 2026 owing to the knee surgery he underwent prior to T20 World Cup 2026, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
According to reports, Rana had surgery in February following a knee injuries sustained while playing during India’s T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa. The young gun is now under rehabilitation, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical staff doing their best to alleviate his condition. The BCC has not yet defined a time frame in which the player may return.
If he does eventually miss the entire season, it will be yet another massive setback for Rana, who had already missed out of the T20 World Cup 2026 which India ended up winning in any case. Rana had also developed a ligament strain in his right knee after bowling one over in the warm-up match, according to the report. He was replaced in the squad by Mohammed Siraj, who played only one game during the tournament, against USA at Wankheded Stadium, Mumbai.
KKR Lose Mustafizur, Rope in Muzarabani Ahead of IPL 2026
On the other hand, KKR would also miss Bangladeshi left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman in IPL 2026. Due to geopolitical tensions between India and Bangladesh, the franchise were petitioned to let him go. As an alternative, they had recently signed Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani who rejected his contract with Lahore Qalandars in PSL to join KKR.
The three-time IPL champions still have plenty of pace options in their squad with Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Umran Malik and Kartik Tyagi along with all-rounders Cameron Green and Ramandeep Singh. There had also been earlier questions about Pathirana’s fitness after he missed the T20 World Cup through a calf injury. However, he was expected to be available for the IPL at that time.
KKR will begin their IPL 2026 campaign by facing defending champions Mumbai Indians on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium. They will also play against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants at home in their next games.
