IPL 2026: KKR practice schedule, squad news, and T20 World Cup stars return

The purple and gold flags will be ready to flap once again at the Kolkata Maidan as the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) officially kick off their IPL 2026 pre-season camp today, Wednesday, March 18. Fresh off the high of the T20 World Cup 2026, where several KKR stars played pivotal roles in India’s historic triumph, the focus now shifts back to the grind of the Indian Premier League, starting from March 28. For the KKR fans, the sight of the team bus rolling toward Eden Gardens will mark the beginning of a quest for a fourth IPL title. The Knights' first practice of the season will run from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

KKR to practice from 5 pm to 9 pm

Tonight’s session will not be a light warm-up. It will surely be a high-intensity tactical drill. The team will practice at the Centre Wicket Nets alongside two specialised side nets.

The centre wicket will allow the power hitters like Rinku Singh and lower-order stars to practice "range hitting" in a match-like environment.

In the meantime, the side nets will likely be reserved for the "mystery spin" duo of Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine to fine-tune their lengths.

Following Varun's successful, albeit expensive, World Cup campaign, where he finished as India's joint-highest wicket-taker, all eyes will be on how he adjusts his length to the IPL format.

Read also: Every record India broke by winning the T20 World Cup 2026.

Kolkata Knight Riders squad for IPL 2026

Batters

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

All-Rounders

Anukul Roy, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, and Ramandeep Singh.

Bowlers

Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Matheesha Pathirana, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Akash Deep, Harshit Rana, Umran Malik, Sunil Narine, and Varun Chakaravarthy.