Story Content

It was a big blow to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with young pacer Harshit Rana being declared out of the whole IPL 2026 season after undergoing the operation on the knee after an accident in one of the pre-T20 World Cup warm-ups. The 24-year-old, whom KKR had contracted at ₹4 crore with a year remaining before the 2025 season (which was deferrable), received the procedure in Mumbai and is in rehab at the BCCI Centre of Excellence.

Harshit is also likely to earn his entire contracted salary amount of 4 crore, despite absenteeism. The rules of the IPL usually mandate franchises to work out the full value to Indian players under contract even when they are injured and not able to play the season, usually under BCCI Indians' insurance or to meet their team commitments. The pro-rata reduction on overseas players can be up to 50 percent, but local talents such as Harshit are generally paid in full.

KKR is yet to find a replacement, as they chose to use the existing bowlers such as Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, and others with a crisis of pace. Fans wish that this gifted youngster be speedily healed to resume his promising career that saw him capture 15 wickets in 13 games with the previous season.