IPL 2026: KKR rope in Navdeep Saini as injury replacement for Harshit Rana
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "IPL 2026: KKR rope in Navdeep Saini as injury replacement for Harshit Rana")
IPL 2026: KKR rope in Navdeep Saini as injury replacement for Harshit Rana Photograph: (AFP)
The announcement made on Wednesday (Mar 25) will see Navdeep Saini link up with the KKR squad on Thursday and resume training ahead of the side’s IPL 2026 opening clash against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday (Mar 29) at the Wankhede Stadium.
With just days remaining for the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) season, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have roped in Navdeep Saini as an injury replacement for Harshit Rana. The announcement made on Wednesday (Mar 25) will see Saini link up with the KKR squad on Thursday and resume training ahead of the side’s IPL 2026 opening clash against the Mumbai Indians on Sunday (Mar 29) at the Wankhede Stadium. Rana, who missed India’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph with a right knee ligament injury, was ruled out of the entire IPL 2026 season recently.
Navdeep Saini replaces Harshit Rana at KKR
Speaking about joining the side, Navdeep said: “Joining KKR feels special—there’s an emotion attached to the franchise that you can’t quite put into words. For me, this opportunity is a fresh start. The last few years had their ups and downs, but I never stopped believing in my hard work, and this feels like the reward for staying the course."
Harshit Rana had suffered a knee strain during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup warm-up fixture against South Africa. After this, the right-arm speedster underwent knee surgery and is undergoing rehabilitation, with no confirmation about the return of the Indian speedster by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team.
Meanwhile, Khejroliya replaces the injured Prithviraj Yarra in the Gujarat-based franchise. The left-arm pacer, who has six IPL wickets to his name, has previously featured for GT, KKR, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He will join GT for Rs 30 Lakh.
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Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2026 season:
Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep, Blessing Muzarabani.
Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2026:
Shubman Gill (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Kulwant Khejroliya, Luke Wood.
