Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are without both Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy for an IPL match for the first time in almost seven years.
Last time KKR were without Narine and Varun was during IPL 2019
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane confirmed that both his top spinners, Narine and Varun, will miss their IPL 2026 match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Monday, April 6. The last time both players weren’t part of a KKR matchday XI was back in IPL 2019, when KKR played the Delhi Capitals at Eden Gardens on April 12.
That game, however, didn’t go according to plan for Kolkata, who batted first and put up 178 on the board, largely thanks to Shubman Gill’s 65 off 39 and Andre Russell’s quickfire 21-ball 45. Shikhar Dhawan (97* off 63) and Rishabh Pant (46 off 31) then helped Delhi chase down the target in the penultimate over.
Interestingly, Varun was with the Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2019, and his only appearance that season came against KKR, which was also his league debut. He opened the bowling for Punjab, but was hit for three sixes and a four by Narine, who was opening the batting for Kolkata. He finished with figures of 1-35 in three overs. Varun was signed by KKR for INR 4 crore ahead of the 2020 season.
The India spinner has since picked up 99 wickets for KKR in 85 matches, but has gone wicketless in the ongoing edition while conceding runs at an economy of 13.16. Narine, who has only played for KKR in a 15-year-long IPL career, has had a slightly better 2026 season, with one wicket in two games.
Match 12, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings
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- Ball by ball Over
Why Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy are not playing for KKR against PBKS
Ajinkya Rahane revealed during the toss after opting to bat that Varun had injured himself while taking a catch in their game against SRH. Narine, on the other hand, missed out due to illness.
Navdeep Saini and Rovman Powell replaced the spin duo, respectively.
KKR batting XI vs PBKS: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi.
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