IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders Rope In Saurabh Dubey As A Replacement For Akash Deep

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IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders have included Saurabh Dubey as a backup for Akash Deep, who has been ruled out of the complete season of IPL 2026. The 28-year-old left-arm Vidarbha pacer was previously part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad but did not feature for the side in the IPL.

"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," said Subroto Banerjee, who has tracked Dubey's domestic career, quoted Cricbuzz.

A Kolkata Knight Riders official has confirmed the signing of Dubey, while also stating that the franchise is yet to decide on a replacement for Harshit Rana, who has been ruled out of the season. As reported earlier, there is a belief within the camp that finding a like-for-like Indian replacement for Rana, who has represented India across formats, will be challenging.

Dubey had remained unsold during the mini-auction held in Abu Dhabi last December, where he was listed at No. 1215 in the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP) with a base price of ₹30 lakh. Only players included in the RAPP are eligible to be signed as replacements. He was previously picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022, but his stint was cut short due to injury.

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