IPL 2026

Kolkata Knight Riders | KKR IPL 2026 Squad, Players, Stats, and Season History

Feb. 11, 2026

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is one of the major franchises in the Indian Premier League, representing Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 2008, the team is owned by Knight Riders Sports Private Limited, a partnership between Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and the Mehta Group led by Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta. Known for its purple and gold colours and the motto “Korbo, Lorbo, Jeetbo”, the franchise has built a strong identity and a loyal fan base across the world. KKR is among the league’s successful teams, winning IPL titles in 2012, 2014, and 2024. The team’s rise was shaped by players such as Gautam Gambhir, who led the first two title wins, and Sunil Narine, one of the most impactful T20 bowlers in the tournament. The Knight Riders brand has grown beyond India with teams in leagues in the Caribbean, UAE, and the United States, strengthening its global presence. The team plays its home matches at Eden Gardens, one of cricket’s most historic venues with a capacity of around 68,000. The ground is known for its energetic crowd and strong local support, making match days a major event in the city. This connection between the team and its supporters remains one of KKR’s biggest strengths. Heading into IPL 2026, KKR enters a rebuilding phase after finishing eighth in 2025. Leadership changes include Abhishek Nayar as head coach and Ajinkya Rahane as captain. The auction strategy reflected this transition, highlighted by the signing of Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore to strengthen the core. With additions to the support staff and a refreshed squad direction, the team begins the season focused on returning to playoff contention

KKR At a Glance (IPL 2026)

Captain: Ajinkya Rahane
Head Coach: Abhishek Nayar
Key Additions: Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tejasvi Singh, Rachin Ravindra
Biggest Exit: Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer
Auction Strategy: Spent heavily on overseas impact players to reset the core
Squad Strength: Strong bowling attack with quality spin and death options
Squad Concern: Thin middle order depth and pace injury risks

KKR enter IPL 2026 with a rebuilt core under new leadership. Major auction investments strengthened bowling and top-order power. Middle-order depth and fast-bowling fitness remain the key risks.

KKR IPL 2026 Squad

Batters & Wicketkeeper (KKR 2026)

A mix of experienced anchors and aggressive top-order hitters. This group brings stability at the top, finishing ability in the middle, and multiple wicketkeeping options.

Player	Role	Batting Style
Ajinkya Rahane (c)	Top order	Right hand
Finn Allen	Top order	Right hand
Tejasvi Singh	WK Batter	Right hand
Manish Pandey	Top order	Right hand
Rovman Powell	Middle order	Right hand
Angkrish Raghuvanshi	Top order	Right hand
Ramandeep Singh	Middle order	Right hand
Sarthak Ranjan	Opening	Right hand
Tim Seifert	WK Batter	Right hand
Rinku Singh	Middle order	Left hand
Rahul Tripathi	Top order	Right hand

All-rounders (KKR 2026)

Provides batting depth and tactical flexibility through spin and seam variations across match phases.

Batting Contribution

Player	Batting Style	Secondary Skill
Daksh Kamra	Right hand	Leg spin
Cameron Green	Right hand	Fast medium
Sunil Narine	Left hand	Off spin
Rachin Ravindra	Left hand	Left arm spin
Anukul Roy	Left hand	Left arm spin

Bowling Contribution

Player	Bowling Type
Daksh Kamra	Legbreak googly
Cameron Green	Right arm fast medium
Sunil Narine	Right arm offbreak
Rachin Ravindra	Slow left arm orthodox
Anukul Roy	Slow left arm orthodox

Bowlers (KKR 2026)

A pace-heavy attack supported by mystery spin and wrist spin options, designed to cover powerplay, middle overs, and death phases.

Player	Bowling Type
Akash Deep	Right arm fast medium
Vaibhav Arora	Right arm fast medium
Harshit Rana	Right arm fast
Kartik Tyagi	Right arm fast
Matheesha Pathirana	Right arm fast
Prashant Solanki	Leg spin
Umran Malik	Right arm fast
Varun Chakravarthy	Legbreak googly
Mustafizur Rahman*	Left arm fast medium

*Withdrawn from squad status noted in listing.

IPL 2026 Trade / Transfer Summary (KKR)

KKR kept trades minimal and focused on clearing space for auction rebuilding after a squad reset.

Players Traded In: None
Players Traded Out: Mayank Markande
Released Players: Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Moeen Ali, Spencer Johnson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Chetan Sakariya, Luvnith Sisodia
Retired Player: Andre Russell officially retired from the IPL on 30 November 2025 and was immediately appointed as the Power Coach for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the 2026 season.

Strategic Intent: Free budget and rebuild core through auction signings

KKR IPL 2026 Team Analysis

Batters & Wicketkeepers Analysis (KKR 2026)

KKR’s batting unit blends experienced anchors, power hitters, and flexible finishers, with depth coming from young Indian prospects and backup wicketkeeping options.

Player	Tournament Used	Mat	Runs	Ave	SR	100s	50s
Ajinkya Rahane	IPL	198	5032	30.49	125.01	2	33
Finn Allen	BBL	21	647	30.80	184.33	1	4
Tejasvi Singh	T20s	6	113	56.50	168.65	0	1
Manish Pandey	IPL	174	3942	29.41	121.51	1	22
Rovman Powell	IPL	29	365	18.25	146.58	0	1
Angkrish Raghuvanshi	IPL	22	463	28.93	144.68	0	2
Ramandeep Singh	IPL	31	217	19.72	158.39	0	0
Sarthak Ranjan	T20s	5	66	13.20	126.92	0	0
Tim Seifert	IPL	3	26	8.66	113.04	0	0
Rinku Singh	IPL	59	1099	30.52	145.17	0	4
Rahul Tripathi	IPL	100	2291	26.33	137.84	0	12

The batting unit mixes experience and aggression, with Rahane, Pandey, and Tripathi providing stability while Allen and Powell supply attacking intent at different phases.
The middle and lower order relies heavily on Rinku Singh as the proven finisher, with Ramandeep and Powell acting as supporting power options.
Squad depth is strong, featuring multiple flexible batters and wicketkeeping choices in Singh and Seifert, allowing tactical lineup adjustments.
Youth prospects like Raghuvanshi and Ranjan strengthen rotation options but are still developmental compared to the established core.

Overall structure prioritizes flexible batting roles rather than fixed slots, enabling match-specific reshuffling based on conditions or opposition.

All-rounders Analysis (KKR 2026)

Batting Contribution Table

Player	Tournament	Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR
Cameron Green	IPL	29	707	100*	41.58	153.69
Sunil Narine	IPL	189	1780	109	17.62	166.51
Rachin Ravindra	IPL	18	413	65*	24.29	143.90
Anukul Roy	IPL	12	26	13*	6.50	104.00

Bowling Contribution Table

Player	Tournament	Mat	Wkts	Best	Ave	Econ
Cameron Green	IPL	29	16	2/12	41.50	9.07
Sunil Narine	IPL	189	192	5/19	25.63	6.79
Rachin Ravindra	IPL	18	0	–	–	3.50
Anukul Roy	IPL	12	6	2/19	36.33	8.17

The group is built around Narine’s experience and control, giving KKR a dependable spin option across phases.
Green adds balance with top order batting impact and seam overs, acting as the primary multi-phase contributor.
Ravindra and Roy provide left arm spin depth and flexible batting cover, strengthening matchup options when conditions favour spin.
Overall usage leans toward role specialization rather than heavy batting reliance from this unit, with their value coming from tactical flexibility and bowling support.
Daksh Kamra has not yet played IPL cricket and therefore has no IPL stats; he remains a developmental spin all round option for squad depth.

The structure supports bowling variety more than batting volume, aligning with the team’s spin heavy strategy.

Bowlers Analysis (KKR 2026)

Player	Tournament	Mat	Wkts	Best	Ave	Econ
Akash Deep	IPL	14	10	3/45	54.80	11.82
Vaibhav Arora	IPL	32	36	3/27	28.22	9.55
Harshit Rana	IPL	34	40	3/24	25.72	9.51
Kartik Tyagi	IPL	20	15	2/29	47.53	10.13
Matheesha Pathirana	IPL	32	47	4/28	21.61	8.68
Prashant Solanki	IPL	2	2	2/20	19.00	6.33
Umran Malik	IPL	26	29	5/25	26.62	9.39
Varun Chakravarthy	IPL	84	100	5/20	23.85	7.57
Mustafizur Rahman	IPL	60	65	4/29	28.44	8.13

The attack is built around Pathirana as the main death overs weapon and Varun Chakravarthy controlling the middle overs.
Pace depth is strong with Arora, Akash Deep, and Umran providing powerplay swing and speed options, though consistency varies across the group.
Harshit Rana was expected to play a major role but injury concerns reduce early season stability.
Mustafizur has IPL pedigree but is unavailable, so the responsibility shifts to domestic seamers to cover overs.
Spin support beyond Varun is thin, with Solanki mainly acting as backup rather than a primary wicket option.

The structure has wicket taking potential but availability issues and limited spin depth could affect balance across phases.

IPL 2026 Stats and Data for Your Website or App

All the IPL 2026 data shown on this blog can be used directly on your own platform whether it’s a website, app, or internal tool using Cricket API. So instead of just reading these stats, you can actually build with them.

How do you use this data?

You integrate the APIs once, and then use the data however your product needs.

If you are a developer

You can use our APIs to build:

Fantasy apps
Live score widgets
Dashboards and simulators

We already provide ball by ball data, player stats, team stats, points tables, and match data. You focus on features and UI. We handle the data layer.

If you are doing marketing around IPL 2026

You can use live match data to run prediction and gamification campaigns. For example (like our past clients): “If Virat Kohli hits a six, you get 20% off.” “If India wins the next match, cashback on your order.” This kind of real time gamification has been used by brands like Zomato, Zepto, and FiMoney to drive millions of interactions during live matches.

If you are a media or stats website

You can display all IPL data in your own format:

Points tables
Player and team stats
Head to head comparisons
Match previews and reports

Instead of maintaining everything manually, your pages stay updated automatically using live data. Same data as this blog. Just delivered through APIs so you can turn it into products, campaigns, and traffic. 👉🏻You can explore the Indian Premier League 2026 data and API here

KKR IPL 2026 FAQs

1. Who is the captain of KKR for IPL 2026? Ajinkya Rahane will captain KKR in the 2026 season. 2. Who is the head coach of KKR in 2026? Abhishek Nayar takes over as head coach after Chandrakant Pandit’s contract ended. 3. Is Harshit Rana playing in IPL 2026? Unlikely. He had knee surgery in early 2026 and may miss most or all of the season. 4. Will Sunil Narine open the batting in 2026? No. The team plans to use specialist top order batters instead. 5. Who was KKR’s biggest buy in the 2026 auction? Cameron Green for ₹25.20 crore. 6. What is the maximum fee rule affecting Green’s salary? His take home pay is capped at ₹18 crore. The rest goes to the league’s development pool. 7. Why did Mustafizur Rahman leave the squad? He was released due to external clearance issues and will not play in IPL 2026. 8. Who are the wicketkeeping options for KKR in 2026? Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, and Tejasvi Sing. 9. Who is the bowling coach for 2026? Tim Southee. 10. Where is Cameron Green expected to bat? In the top three as a core batter.

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