KKR sign Saurabh Dubey as Akash Deep replacement

Kolkata Knight Riders have added left-arm seamer Saurabh Dubey to their squad for IPL 2026, bringing him in as a replacement for Akash Deep, who has been ruled out of the tournament. Dubey, a 28-year-old pacer from Vidarbha, was previously part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad set-up but is yet to make his IPL debut.

Subroto Banerjee, who has followed Dubey’s progress closely both during his time as a national selector and in Nagpur, praised the move by the franchise. “He is a very talented left-arm fast bowler. I remember him touring Bangladesh under Rahul Dravid as part of the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup squad. He gets extra bounce off the wicket and can swing the ball both ways. It’s a good call by the Knight Riders management,” he said.

A Kolkata Knight Riders official confirmed the signing and also indicated that the franchise is yet to finalise a replacement for Harshit Rana, who is also out of the season. As previously reported, the belief within the team management is that there is no suitable Indian alternative available for Rana, who has represented India across all formats.

Dubey had gone unsold at the Abu Dhabi mini-auction last December, where he was listed at No. 1215 in the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP) with a base price of INR 30 lakh. Only players included in the RAPP are eligible to be drafted in as replacements. He had earlier been signed by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022, although his stint with the franchise was curtailed due to injury.

The pacer last featured for Vidarbha during the 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy season. Before that, he represented the state side in four matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2020-21 campaign.

Remaining IPL schedule to be announced soon

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed franchises that it requires three to four more days to release the remainder of the IPL 2026 schedule. Fixtures for the first 20 matches, scheduled up to April 12, have already been announced, while dates for the remaining 54 games are yet to be confirmed.