The Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy (SMAT 2025-26) is a brilliant platform for youngsters and veterans to showcase their T20 talent to boost their chances in the IPL and India setup.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who did the most activity in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) auction, have built a formidable squad for the next season. A number of KKR stars also featured in the SMAT 2025-26 season, with some of them looking in sublime form. The performance of the KKR stars in the domestic T20 tournament will also help the management evaluate their talents as they gear up for the IPL 2026 season next.
Here we take a look at how Kolkata Knight Riders players in SMAT fared as they build towards the IPL 2026.
All-rounder Anukul Roy, who finished as the Player of the tournament, played a key role with the bat in Jharkhand’s maiden SMAT title win. He scored 303 runs in 11 matches, averaging 60s with a healthy strike rate of 160.31.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane too enjoyed a sublime form with the bat, finishing as the top-scorer for his state side Mumbai with 391 runs in 10 games @ 48.87.
New signing Tejasvi Singh Dahiya impressed with his hitting abilities, smacking 113 runs at an impressive average of 56.50.
On the other hand, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rinku Singh did not have the best of their campaigns. Rinku managed just 172 runs in seven games, averaging under 25 while Raghuvanshi scored only 49 runs in four games with a subpar average of 16.33.
Anukul Roy impressed with the ball as well, snaring 18 wickets with his left-arm spin to finish as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the SMAT 2025-26 season. Star T20 spinner Varun Chakravarthy, however, was unimpressive with just two wickets in four games.
Amongst new recruits, Akash Deep, Kartik Tyagi and Prashant Solanki had mediocre outings.
While most of the KKR stars participated in the SMAT 2025-26, there were a few who missed out due to other commitments. India and KKR pacer Harshit Rana was absent due to his inclusion in the squads for the South Africa white-ball series. Varun Chakravarthy too had to join the Indian T20I side to face the Proteas and could play only four games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Batter Manish Pandey was another name missing after Karnataka preferred to shift focus to youngsters. Latest recruits Sarthak Ranjan and Daksh Kamra were the other KKR players who did not play the latest edition of the SMAT.
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Here’s a full list of Kolkata Knight Riders players in SMAT 2025-26.
| Player | Matches | Runs | Average | SR | 6s | 50s |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 10 | 391 | 48.87 | 161.57 | 4 | – |
| Rinku Singh | 7 | 172 | 24.57 | 135.43 | 8 | 1 |
| Anukul Roy | 11 | 303 | 60.60 | 160.31 | 15 | 1 |
| Tejasvi Singh Dahiya | 6 | 113 | 56.50 | 168.65 | 8 | 1 |
| Rahul Tripathi | 5 | 163 | 54.33 | 141.73 | 6 | 1 |
| Angkrish Raghuvanshi | 4 | 49 | 16.33 | 111.36 | – | – |
| Ramandeep Singh | 10 | 209 | 29.85 | 195.32 | 16 | – |
| Player | Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy | Best |
| Kartik Tyagi | 3 | 4 | 22.75 | 8.27 | 3/34 |
| Prashant Solanki | 7 | 6 | 32.33 | 8.43 | 2/29 |
| Akash Deep | 5 | 7 | 24.14 | 9.38 | 3/27 |
| Vaibhav Arora | 7 | 9 | 25.00 | 9.50 | 3/16 |
| Varun Chakravarthy | 4 | 2 | 78.00 | 9.75 | 1/28 |
| Umran Malik | 5 | 6 | 26.50 | 9.93 | 3/37 |
| Anukul Roy | 11 | 18 | 15.38 | 7.41 | 3/20 |
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