Who is Saurabh Dubey, the left-arm pacer who replaced Akash Deep in the KKR squad for IPL 2026?

Saurabh Dubey, 28, previously a net bowler with KKR, impressed in practice matches. Known for his height and bounce, he adds left-arm variety to KKR's pace attack.

Dubey has replaced Akash Deep in the KKR squad for IPL 2026. Image | RAKKR on X

In one of the latest replacement news for the three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders, the Gold and Purple side have officially signed the first tall left-arm first bowler, Saurabh Dubey, for the upcoming IPL 2026 season, replacing Akash Deep. Akash Deep was ruled out of the entire tournament after failing to recover from a stress reaction in his lower back. Dubey, who was with the KKR squad as a net bowler in Mumbai, got drafted after doing well in the practice games.

Who is Saurabh Dubey?

While Saurabh Dubey is still an uncapped player in the Indian Premier League, the 28-year-old from Wardha is well known in the domestic circuit for his height and ability to generate bounce, which will come in handy on the lively pitch of Eden Gardens. Dubey can provide KKR with a much-needed left-arm variety in their pace attack after they had to leave out Mustafa Yuzur Rahman after the auction.

Read also: IPL 2026 jersey guide: Where to buy jersey of each team, prices, and new kit designs.

Dubey has already represented Vidarbha in 8 List A and 3 T20 matches. He first grabbed headlines during the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, where he took seven wickets in just three games and was India's highest wicket-taker.

Read also: IPL deep-dive: Underrated XI of IPL history; Balaji, Marsh, Yusuf, Rayudu and who else?

KKR squad for IPL 2026

Batters: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Manish Pandey, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Tejasvi Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Rovman Powell.

All-Rounders: Anukul Roy, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Ramandeep Singh.

Bowlers: Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Matheesha Pathirana, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Saurabh Dubey, Harshit Rana, Umran Malik, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy.

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