Harshit Rana was the third-highest wicket-taker for KKR last season.
Star Team India pacer Harshit Rana was ruled out of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after suffering a knee injury during the warm-up match against South Africa. However, with just more than a month to go for the IPL 2026, former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player Aakash Chopra has opened up on the pacer’s availability for the franchise in the upcoming season of the league.
According to the cricketer-turned-commentator, the youngster will not be available for KKR in the IPL 2026. Notably, there are also clouds over the participation of KKR’s INR 18 crore recruit Matheesha Pathirana. The injury-prone bowler was seen to get retired hurt from Sri Lanka’s latest T20 World Cup 2026 match against Australia after bowling only four deliveries in the third over of the fixture.
“As far as I know, Harshit Rana will not be available. If Harshit Rana is not there, Fizz is not there, Pathirana is not there, who will bowl for them? They have Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, but is that enough by any stretch of imagination?” stated Chopra on his YouTube channel.
The former KKR batter discussed how the absence of Harshit weakens the franchise’s bowling attack for IPL 2026. Earlier, the team had also released experienced Bangladeshi bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their squad due to BCCI instructions. Though Chopra noted a few names whom KKR might consider as a replacement for them, he also added that none of those players are expected to fill the void of these two star seamers.
“They don’t have an overseas fast bowling option. This is where the supply and demand come into play. They had spent 18 crore to bring in Pathirana and more than 9 crore to acquire Fizz. But now even if they have a total of 27 crore to spend, there are not many bowlers of that calibre,” he added.
The commentator also spoke about the low-scoring returns of Cameron Green. KKR had spent a massive INR 25.20 crore to include the star Australian player in their squad. But the all-rounder is carrying on a lean patch with the willow, scoring only 24 runs in three matches of the T20 World Cup 2026 so far.
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Before 2024, Harshit had already featured in eight IPL fixtures for KKR across two editions, snaring six wickets. But his breakthrough season came in the IPL 2024, when he picked up a noteworthy 19 wickets in only 11 innings, at an economy of 9.08. His heroics proved to play a pivotal part in the team’s campaign that season as KKR won their third IPL trophy after a decade.
Harshit was also instrumental in the subsequent season, snaring 15 scalps in 13 matches. But coming off a championship-winning run, KKR produced a below-par show in the IPL 2025 to finish the season in eighth place.
Following the debacle, the team had planned for a major overhaul. Despite a mini auction, KKR released most of their key players and thoroughly rebuilt their entire squad for the IPL 2026. But multiple availability and form concerns have put up several questions for the management before starting off their campaign in the next edition of the tournament.
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