New Delhi [India], March 25 (ANI): Three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and one-time winners Gujarat Titans (GT) have picked Navdeep Saini and Kulwant Khejroliya, respectively, as player replacements for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The right-arm speedster Navdeep Saini has scalped 23 wickets in 32 IPL matches played so far, in addition to 23 wickets in international cricket for India. Saini will replace the injured Harshit Rana and join KKR for Rs 75 Lakh, according to a statement released by IPL.

Harshit Rana had suffered a knee strain during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup warm-up fixture against South Africa.

After this, the right-arm speedster underwent knee surgery and is undergoing rehabilitation, with no confirmation about the return of the Indian speedster by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) medical team. Meanwhile, Khejroliya replaces the injured Prithviraj Yarra in the Gujarat-based franchise. The left-arm pacer, who has six IPL wickets to his name, has previously featured for GT, KKR, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He will join GT for Rs 30 Lakh.

Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2026 season:

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.

Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2026:

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. (ANI)