Kolkata Knight Riders will be without their spin duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine in their upcoming match against Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane confirmed that Varun sustained an injury while taking a catch in their previous match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, which they lost by 65 runs.
Varun, who has struggled in this year’s IPL, going for 48 runs in four overs against Mumbai Indians and conceding 31 runs in two overs against SRH, will be a big miss for KKR. Sunil Narine, on the other hand, has been ruled out due to illness. The last time KKR played without either Varun or Narine was back in 2019.
To fill in for Varun and Narine, KKR has brought in seamer Navdeep Saini and all-rounder Rovman Powell. Surprisingly, KKR has opted to bat first at Eden Gardens, with Anukul Roy expected to be the team’s lone spinner.
The absence of Varun and Narine will certainly be felt by KKR, but they will have to make do with the replacements they have brought in for this match. It will be interesting to see how the team copes without their key spinners in the match against Punjab Kings.
The match is currently underway, and fans can follow live updates on the match by clicking on the provided link. The article was published on April 6, 2026.
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