Akash Deep has become the second Indian pacer to be ruled out of IPL 2026 for Kolkata Knight Riders after Harshit Rana.
He has failed to recover in time from a lower-back stress injury and is currently recuperating at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He will need three months to return to full fitness following his rehabilitation.
Another pacer, Matheesha Pathirana, will miss at least the first half of the tournament after Sri Lanka Cricket revealed on Friday that he is yet to undergo the mandatory physical performance test required for the Board’s No Objection Certificate.
KKR have already got Blessing Muzarabani as a replacement for Mustafizur Rahman, but beyond that, their pace bowling resources now appear thin. The franchise will now have to seek a replacement to bolster their attack. They had been in two minds after Harshit was ruled out following a knee surgery.
Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik and Kartik Tyagi are the Indian pacers currently in the KKR squad. Several others are with the franchise for trials as they look to rebuild a depleted bowling unit.
Akash’s injury follows a hectic domestic season for Bengal. He is also understood to be nursing a left heel injury. The 29-year-old Bengal pacer had been picked by the franchise at his base price of ₹1 crore at last year’s mini-auction in Abu Dhabi.
KKR start their campaign with an away fixture against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede next Sunday.
