KKR IPL Schedule 2026: Fixtures, Venues, Full Squad, Date And Time

KKR IPL squad and schedule for 2026 [Source: X]

The official IPL 2026 schedule for the Kolkata Knight Riders has been unveiled by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The dates and venues, announced on live television, were aired on March 11, 2026, at 7 PM IST.

The three-time IPL winners will begin their campaign for this season’s event on March 29 against the Mumbai Indians in Mumbai. Notably, KKR gets 4 games to be played as of now, the complete schedule has been affected due to the election dates in Kolkata during the months of April and May.

The Kolkata Knight Riders franchise so far has been a solid squad on paper, especially after their IPL 2026 auction, where most sought-after player, Australia all-rounder Cameron Green, was fought for for INR 25.2 crore, who is also the most expensive player of this year’s auction.

Even though the franchise bid for quite good numbers, ahead of the squad, let’s take a look at the complete schedule of the mega Indian Premier League 2026.

KKR IPL Schedule 2026

The Men in Purple will be seeking glory after their 2024 triumph under mentor Gautam Gambhir. The 2025 edition wasn’t one of the greatest for the team, as they finished 8th on the points table, winning only 5 matches out of their 14 games.

Failing to qualify for the playoffs, KKR opted for a mammoth retain and release strategy, acquiring 13 new players in the previous year’s auction.

Nevertheless, aiming for the title in IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders will face Hardik Pandya & Co. in their opener, followed by a mega battle with Sunrisers Hyderabad in their second match.

As the schedule unfolds, the Men in Purple will eventually have their full roster roll out in multiple phases with the iconic Eden Gardens in the City of Joy being their home venue for the season.

Also Read: RCB Vs CSK: Which Team Has A Better Record In IPL Openers?

KKR IPL 2026 Schedule

Kolkata Knight Riders IPL Auction Review

Knight’s best interest at the IPL 2026 auction table was all-rounder Cameron Green, whom they bought for a whopping ₹25.2 crore, raising the bid from a base price of ₹2 crore.

While the batting all-rounder was the centre of attraction, Chennai Super Kings’ pacer Matheesha Pathirana was also swiftly roped in by Venky Mysore & Co. for a mammoth ₹18 crore price.

While Rachin Ravindra, another CSK-ian, was bought in, most of the Kolkata Knight Riders’ core was retained except for Andre Russell, who is now the power coach for the team. 

Rinku Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane, Harshit Rana, Ramandeep Singh make the core of the team, while Rahul Tripathi, Aakash Deep, and New Zealand batting sensations Tim Seifert and Finn Allen have also found a new home in the squad.

Manish Pandey’s veteran experience alongside Rahul Tripathi’s IPL exposure adds to KKR’s batting firepower, which is led by almost 45% of the 25-player squad.

Significantly, the franchise didn’t go for cheap options, as they spent ₹124.55 crore in the auction with a purse value left of just ₹45 lakhs, where they bought all eight overseas players and secured the core, thus packing plenty of firepower on paper.

KKR Squad For IPL 2026

Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Mustafizur Rahman, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep

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