KKR Team comparison: IPL 2025 vs IPL 2026 Squad breakdown

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will seek redemption in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) after finishing eighth in 2025. They have made some key additions to their side, which make them one of the contenders for the coveted IPL title next year.

KKR Squad Comparison: IPL 2025 vs IPL 2026

In the IPL 2025 mega-auction, KKR did not have a big budget as they had retained the maximum of six players from last season. They went all-out for Venkatesh Iyer at the auction and eventually roped him in for INR 23.75 crore. This move, however, did not pay dividends in IPL 2025 as Iyer only managed 142 runs from 11 innings at an average of 20.29. He did not bowl a single delivery during the tournament.

After spending so much money to re-sign one of their former players, KKR did not have the purse needed to bring back the likes of Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc, who played key roles in their IPL 2024 triumph. The Kolkata-based franchise also did not go for any of the captaincy options available and had to name Ajinkya Rahane as the skipper, a player who went unsold twice before being roped in at his base price at the auction.

Quinton de Kock was brought in as KKR hoped he would play the role of Salt. However, the Proteas wicketkeeper had one of his worst seasons in a long time with the bat. The other overseas wicketkeeper, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, also failed to impress.

Neither Anrich Nortje nor Spencer Johnson managed to play Starc’s role, and KKR lacked an overseas seamer who could lead the attack and guide youngsters like Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora along the way.

Seeing the KKR team on paper, plenty of problems were evident. A reliable overseas pacer and an explosive wicketkeeper-batter were missing. No team showed interest in acquiring Rahane’s services at the auction, and KKR had to appoint the same player as their captain due to the lack of options.

Ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction, KKR understood that they needed to make wholesale changes to their side. They had to make some tough calls, including letting go of long-time servants like Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell. In stark contrast to last year, KKR entered the auction with the highest budget of INR 64.3 crore this year.

They did not hold back while bidding for Cameron Green and Matheesha Pathirana, two of the biggest names in the auction, and signed both of them for INR 25.20 crore and INR 18 crore, respectively. Rovman Powell and Mustafizur Rahman are excellent backups for the aforementioned players.

While KKR could not get themselves a player who could double up as captain, it has to be said that there were not too many such options available at the mini-auction.

KKR signed destructive wicketkeeper-batter Finn Allen, who could be as dangerous as Salt on his day. They also reunited with Tim Seifert, who would be a like-for-like replacement for Allen if he is set to miss a game or two. Tejasvi Dahiya is another wicketkeeper who could play an important role for the Knights next season.

KKR have more of an aggressive look to their squad after the mini-auction. They can be kept on the list of teams that are favourites to enter the playoffs in IPL 2026.

KKR IPL 2026 squad:

Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Daksh Kamra, Sarthak Ranjan, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Akash Deep, Rachin Ravindra.