IPL 2026: KKR and GT Secure Player Replacements Ahead of Season

Player Replacements Announced for IPL 2026

New Delhi, March 25: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who have clinched the IPL title three times, and Gujarat Titans (GT), a one-time champion, have made key player replacements for the upcoming IPL 2026 season.

Navdeep Saini, a right-arm fast bowler, has been signed by KKR to replace the injured Harshit Rana. Saini has taken 23 wickets in 32 IPL matches and has an equal tally in international cricket for India. He will join KKR for a fee of Rs 75 Lakh, as confirmed by an IPL announcement.

Harshit Rana sustained a knee injury during a warm-up match against South Africa ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Following this, he underwent surgery and is currently in rehabilitation, with no updates on his return from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

On the other hand, Kulwant Khejroliya has been brought in by GT to fill the spot of the injured Prithviraj Yarra. The left-arm pacer, who has taken six wickets in the IPL, has previously played for GT, KKR, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He will join GT for Rs 30 Lakh.

Here’s a look at the KKR squad for IPL 2026:

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.

And the Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2026 includes:

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.