KKR would be pleased with the pacer's form.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Kartik Tyagi bowled a terrific spell in the intra-squad practice game between Golden Knights and Purple Knights ahead of IPL 2026. Almost every squad player participated in the fixture, and Kartik’s brilliance against the best of the batters must have come as a massive relief for the Knight Riders.
He took three wickets for 30 runs at an economy rate of 7.50 in the first innings. Tyagi dismissed big batters like Rinku Singh and Tejasvi Dahiya and helped Purple Nights restrict the opponent to 199/8 when they could have scored a few more.
A notable feature of his spell was his death-overs bowling, where the pacer conceded just seven runs and took two wickets across two sets. He used the depth of the crease to bowl wider lines and slower deliveries into the pitch to make himself trickier to hit.
Kartik Tyagi also nailed his yorkers a couple of times and was looking in great rhythm, bowling without any discomfort throughout all four overs. KKR don’t want anything else amid a number of injury and unavailability concerns even before the season has begun.
This practice game must have given KKR management an ideal indication to use Kartik Tyagi extensively in IPL 2026. He can perform the role Harshit Rana would have done had he not injured himself and been ruled out of the tournament.
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Tyagi has the attributes to operate effectively across phases – he can move the new ball, can bowl climbing shorter lengths, and seems to have developed a few slower ball variations to expand his arsenal. If KKR want, they can use him for a couple of overs with the new ball before bringing him back for death overs.
The control over yorkers remains a bit off, but he can still bowl effectively and remains a better option among those available. Kartik Tyagi has always been a solid prospect, but injuries have held him back all these years, and this might be the season he needs.
KKR don’t have Harshit Rana, while the likes of Vaibhav Arora and Umran Malik remain vulnerable, especially the latter. They must maximise Kartik’s recent form and rhythm by starting with him right from the opening game against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium, where he might get some extra assistance from the pitch.
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