Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) suffered a major setback with both their leading rushers, Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine, missing their IPL 2026 match against Punjab Kings on Monday, April 6 at the Eden Gardens.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane confirmed at the toss that the changes were forced. Chakravarthy suffered a catching injury in the previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad while Narine was unavailable due to illness.
KKR vs PBKS, IPL 2026: Live updates | Scorecard
With both spinners out, KKR were left with only one specialist slow bowler in Anukul Roy. To compensate, the team has brought in West Indies all-rounder Rovman Powell and Indian pacer Navdeep Saini, who is set to make his debut for the franchise.
Saini is coming in strong form in white ball cricket. He was a key contributor in Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign, taking 12 wickets in eight matches at an economy rate of under six. He also finished as Delhi’s second highest run-getter in the over-50 competition last season.
This is the first time since April 2019 that both Chakravarthy and Narine have missed a match for KKR. On that occasion, the team suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals.
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KKR have had a tough start to the season, lost to Mumbai Indians away and Sunrisers Hyderabad at home. They will be eager to turn things around despite the absence of their trusted spin duo.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings come into the competition in strong form having won both their matches so far. After finishing in second place last season, they will be keen to maintain their momentum and continue their impressive run.
KKR vs PBKS, playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders XI: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (WK), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
KKR Impact Subs: Blessing Muzarabani, Manish Pandey, Tejasvi Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Saurabh Dubey
Punjab Kings XI: Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Cooper Connolly, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
PBKS Impact Subs: Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Pravin Dubey, Harpreet Brar
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Issued by:
Amar Panicker
Published on:
06 Apr 2026 19:29 IST
