Rana was ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2026 with an injury.
The IPL 2026 is less than two months away and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) find themselves in a world of problems. Matheesha Pathirana injury, Cameron Green form, and Mustafizur Rahman fiasco are a few of those. Another addition to that is Harshit Rana, who could be unavailable for the upcoming season.
Rana, who has been a regular member of the Indian cricket team, was ruled out of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 due to a knee injury. The fast bowler sustained the injury during the warm-up fixture, and later had to undergo a surgery. There’s no timeline set for his return but the expected recovery time for a knee surgery is between three to five months.
If Harshit Rana does not play In the IPL 2026, KKR would be in huge trouble as he has been an integral part of the bowling attack in the last two years. Here we take a look at three players KKR can sign if the pacer remains unavailable for the tournament.
Simarjeet Singh has previously played for two franchises in the league – Chennai Super Kings in 2022-24 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2025. He could not find any buyers in the IPL 2026 auction but could be a decent replacement for KKR.
Simarjeet doesn’t have form on his side, and it was one of the reasons why he went unsold. However, he has a skill set that very few in the country have. He can hit the deck at good pace, and could play the enforcer role in the middle overs.
RS Ambrish is rated highly in the Indian circuit and would be a solid replacement at KKR. The franchise has had a history of taking a punt on young fast bowlers from Under-19 cricket. Ambrish has been making noise with his performance.
Ambrish had an excellent campaign for India in the recent U19 World Cup, where he picked up 11 wickets in seven games at an economy of 4.93. He is yet to feature in a senior T20 match but has the skill set to succeed. He is also pretty handy with the bat, and KKR could secure a future star.
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Akash Madhwal is another fast bowler who is not in great form but IPL experience is something teams do not ignore. He has played for Mumbai Indians (2023-24) and Rajasthan Royals (2025) in the past.
Madhwal didn’t get consistent chances, and conceded runs at a high economy. But that needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as the pitches in India in the last two years have been extremely flat, and Madhwal predominantly bowls in slog overs. He has the ability to bowl yorkers, and if Pathirana also doesn’t recover in time, KKR will need a death overs specialist for IPL 2026.
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