KKR players during IPL 2025 (PC - afp.com)
The Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) is less than 10 days away from its curtain raiser, and the three-time champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, will begin their campaign on March 29.
This season, Ajinkya Rahane, will again be leading the Knight Riders after they finished at eighth position, winning just five games out of 14 matches. However, ahead of the IPL 2026, KKR had tried to fill in all voids with hefty purchases in Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Finn Aleen, Tim Siefert and Rachin Ravindra.
Although Pathirana was in Sri Lanka rehabbing till last week, and the franchise are seeking any replacements for the Sri Lankan; or the injuried Harshit Rana, who has been ruled out of the entire IPL 2026.
KKR are actually confident in the Indian fast-bowling core, with Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Kartik Tyagi and Umran Malik in their ranks. Moreover, Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani has been roped in a replacement for the withdrawn Mustafizur Rahman.
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Dates confirmed for arrivals of KKR stars
With 10 days to go for KKR's first game of the season, the foreign players are expected to join the squad for the big season.
As per reports from Debasis Sen by Revsportz, the franchise's three Kiwi recruits- Tim Seifert, Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra- will join the squad in Kolkata on March 19, along with the World No.2 bowler, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Additionally, the report further stated Cameron Green, who was bought for a record INR 25.20 crore, will arrive on March 20.
Whereas, the West Indies contingent, comprising Sunil Narine, Rovman Powell and Andre Russell (Power Coach), is expected to join early next week on March 24. Their travel can also be delayed because of the ongoing tension in Middle East due to war between Israel-US and Iran. It is worth mentioning that the departure for South Africa and the West Indies were delayed, after the 2026 T20 World Cup, due to the same reason.
It is understood that T20 World Cup-winning Rinku Singh has already joined the squad in Kolkata, alongside the skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Blessing Muzarabani, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Rahul Tripathi, Ramandeep Singh and the Head Coach Abhishek Nayar.
KKR's schedule as per first-phase of IPL 2026
The three-time champions will kickstart their campaign versus MI at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on March 29. Later, they will play their next three games at home in Eden Gardens against Hyderabad, Punjab, and Lucknow.
The remainder of Kolkata's schedule will be announced as soon as the Election Commission of India reveal the dates for State Elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Keralam and Puducherry.
KKR squad for IPL 2026
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Finn Allen (wicketkeeper), Tejasvi Singh (wicketkeeper), Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Cameron Green, Anukul Roy, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Ramandeep Singh, Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Matheesha Pathirana (injured), Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana (ruled out), Umran Malik, Varun Chakravarthy.
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