IPL 2026: Buzz around giant Blessing as he arrives to play for the Knights

There is a sudden buzz in Kolkata as some members of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad, along with their support staff, started trickling into the city for their pre-season camp for the IPL 2026 season from Wednesday (18 March). The three-time champions, who had a poor season last year, will look to bounce back as they begin their campaign against Mumbai Indians in an away game on 29 March.

 A lot of curiosity value surrounds Blessing Muzarabani, the six feet eight inches giant fast bowler from Zimbabwe, who arrived in the city on Tuesday. The 29-year-old, who finished with13 wickets to emerge as the joint second highest wicket taker in the recent ICC T20 World Cup, proved quite a sensation in the showpiece with his ability to extract pace and bounce and his haul of 4-17 was instrumental in upsetting Australia in the league stages.

 Initially signed by Islamabad United for Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2026 at a price tag of PKR 1.10 crore (Rs 36.44 cr approximately), Blessing agreed to cross over to the IPL as a replacement for overseas seamer Mustafizur Rehman. Media reports say that the Zimbabwean has been offered a purse of Rs 75 lakh (PKR 2.5 crores) by KKR, which makes for a 106% increase in his base earnings.

Add to this is the bonus of Rs 7.5 lakh per match introduced by the IPL from the 2025-26 cycle and it proved to be an offer which he couldn’t refuse – even though he risks a ban from the PSL. The arrival of the Zimbabwean will ease some of KKR’s pace bowling worries, which was dealt with a double whammy with the ban on Mustafizur and then the freak injury to their international fast bowler Harshit Rana.

 The Delhi bowler presented a sorry sight at the BCCI’s annual awards ceremony in the capital on Sunday, walking with a crutch as he was supposed to receive the Best International Debut award. Rana, who missed the World T20 at the eleventh hour, had undergone a knee surgery in February and is currently going through the rehabilitation process – though no deadline has been put for his return.    

Rana suffered the injury during India’s World Cup warm-up match against Proteas, where he which he experienced some trouble in his knee. Tests revealed a strain in his right knee ligament which ruled out of the tournament and Mohammad Siraj was drafted in as a replacement. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane has been retained as KKR captain for the second season on the trot.

 Meanwhile, the countdown for the IPL started picking up pace with most teams hitting the strides. Rohit Sharma, a talismanic figure, joined the Mumbai Indians squad on Tuesday. While there are still 10 days to go for the event to kick off, there is a lurking worry among the stakeholders about the travel plans for overseas players, support staff and crew because of the flight disruptions due to the ongoing Gulf crisis.