17
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ipl 2026 Before this, fast bowler Navdeep Saini has been included in his team in place of Harshit Rana. Rana was already unable to participate in the recently held T20 World Cup due to injury and now he has to be ruled out of the IPL as well. After much deliberation, KKR decided to include Saini in the team. This change has come at a time when the franchise had to replace another fast bowler Akash Deep with Saurabh Dubey.
Navdeep Saini started his IPL career in 2019 with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). That season, he took 11 wickets in his name while playing in 13 matches. After this he remained a part of RCB for the next two seasons. Later Rajasthan Royals (RR) included him in their team, but he did not get much opportunities there. He played a total of four matches for RR in two seasons. Even in the recent IPL auction, no team bought him. Despite this, his impressive performances with RCB earned him recognition. Saini has also played international cricket for India in all three formats. Till now he has a total of 23 wickets in his name in IPL.
Changes in Gujarat team also
On the other hand, Gujarat Titans (GT) has also made a change in its team. He has included Kulwant Khejroliya in place of Prithviraj Yara. Khejroliya also made his IPL debut with Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018. After this, he also played for RCB in 2019 and was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023. Last season he played one match for Gujarat Titans.
When is KKR’s first match?
Talking about the upcoming matches, Kolkata Knight Riders will start their IPL 2026 campaign against Mumbai Indians on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium. Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans will play their first match against last season’s runners-up Punjab Kings on March 31 in Mullanpur. These opening matches will be very important for both the teams and will play an important role in deciding their direction in the entire tournament.
Comments are closed.