KL Rahul IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals has taken a big decision on the playing eleven before the start of IPL 2026. Head coach of Delhi team Hemang Badani says that his aim this time will be to remove the shortcomings in the top order. Coach Badani made it clear that this time KL Rahul will take the responsibility of opening. Let us remind you that in IPL 2025, Delhi Capitals had fielded seven opening pairs, but most of the pairs flopped.

KL Rahul will open

KL Rahul batted mostly at numbers 3 and 4 last season. However, he also got a chance to open in the last few matches of the season. But coach Hemang Badani made it clear in the pre-season conference that this time senior player Rahul will open. But who will be his opening partner has not been disclosed.

Last time, Delhi had made a total of 7 opening pairs including Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul, Abhishek Porel, Karun Nair, Jake Fraser McGurk and 13 changes were made in the top order.

Delhi Capitals team will play its first match in IPL 2026 with Lucknow Super Giants on 1 April. Before that, coach Hemang Badani said that opening partnerships are proving to be an important link in T20 cricket. This is the reason why Delhi is going to hand over the responsibility of opening to KL Rahul this time.

KL Rahul’s performance in IPL 2025

KL Rahul has been targeted for his average strike rate in T20 matches. But in recent times, he has improved his hitting ability. In IPL 2025, he scored 539 runs in 13 matches and the most important thing was that he scored runs at a strike rate of around 150. For their opening partner, Delhi has the option of Abhishek Porel, Pathum Nissanka and Prithvi Shav.

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Kolkata Knight Riders have suffered a big blow due to Harshit Rana’s exit from IPL 2026. The reason for his exclusion is a knee injury, which he suffered during the warm-up match of the T20 World Cup 2026. Harshit has also undergone surgery and is currently recovering. Meanwhile, there are bound to be lines of worry on the forehead of KKR management and till now the team has not been able to find his replacement.

It is not easy to replace Harshit

Giving an update on Harshit’s replacement in the pre-season press conference, Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nair said that his injury is a big blow for the team because he has shown tremendous performance in the last two seasons. Nair said that Harshit has become much better as a cricketer in the last one year. Abhishek Nair also admitted that replacing Harshit Rana is not easy.

Regarding Harshit’s replacement, Harshit Rana said, “In the last few days, we have seen many bowlers who can adapt well to this role. Maybe we can take the final decision in the next few days.”

The problems of Kolkata Knight Riders seem to have increased because Mathisha Pathirana has also not got the clearance to play yet. But the good news is that captain Ajinkya Rahane is showing trust in his players and is full of confidence. The T20 World Cup 2026 tournament was not good for Varun Chakraborty in terms of economy rate, but Rahane is confident that Chakraborty will do well.

Kolkata Knight Riders has become champion three times so far. Kolkata won the trophy under the captaincy of Shreyas Iyer in 2012, 2014 and 2024. KKR’s performance in IPL 2025 was very disappointing, where it had to be content with eighth place in the table.

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