Faf du Plessis, the former captain of South Africa, has raised concerns about Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowling lineup as they prepare for the IPL 2026 season. With Mustafizur Rahman absent from the competition and both Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana nursing injuries, KKR’s pace-bowling options appear limited.
To address this, the franchise has brought in Zimbabwean pacer Blessing Muzarabani to fill the gap left by Mustafizur. Last season, KKR struggled, finishing in eighth place with just five wins out of 14 matches.
When asked whether the team should use both in-form New Zealand openers, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen, at the start of the batting order in IPL 2026, Faf shared his thoughts on ESPN Cricinfo (4:20):
“Their bowling is a massive red flag. So if you can’t find an overseas bowler good enough to make their strongest 11, then you play both these openers at the top. They are X-factor players who will win you games if you back them. But you can’t just have batting resources and no bowling resources. Their team would be better balanced if only one of them play with Narine opening and Rahane and Raghuvanshi at 3 and 4.”
Despite the shortage of experienced pace bowlers, KKR still has a robust spin-bowling unit featuring Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy.
“You’ve got five openers potentially in that side if you bat Finn Allen and Tim Seifert at the top” – Abhinav Mukund
Former Team India player Abhinav Mukund suggests that placing Tim Seifert and Finn Allen as openers could disrupt the batting order for the rest of the KKR team. The franchise made headlines by securing Australian all-rounder Cameron Green for an unprecedented ₹25.20 crore during the 2026 auction, marking the highest bid in IPL history.
This move likely means that KKR will position Green higher in the batting order, which could force players like Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Sunil Narine to play in less familiar roles.
“This is where the biggest problem comes for KKR. With these two opening (Allen and Seifert) and Green at 3, you end up batting Ajinkya Rahane at 4 and Angkrish Raghuvanshi at 5. And they are all out of position. Rinku Singh comes in at 6, Ramandeep at 7, and then Sunil Narine. So you’ve got five openers potentially in that side if you bat Finn Allen and Tim Seifert at the top of the order,” said Mukund (via the aforementioned source).
KKR aims to recover from a lackluster 2025 season as they kick off their IPL 2026 campaign against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Mumbai on March 29.
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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
