Injury replacements, availability concerns, captaincy, and ownership changes are all happening before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 starts. Meanwhile, all venues are now confirmed. Sunrisers have been labelled ‘anti-national’. Meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir has talked about his mistakes in the last 18 months.
Cummins’ captaincy replacement
SRH are expected to name Ishan Kishan as their interim captain for IPL 2026. Since there’s uncertainty over Pat Cummins’ availability, the management has decided to name Kishan as his replacement. Reports had suggested that Abhishek Sharma would take over from Cummins, but the wicketkeeper-batter will take over.
SRH called anti-India
Sunil Gavaskar has blasted Sunrisers Leeds owner Kavya Maran for buying Pakistan spinner Abrar Ahmed at The Hundred 2026 auction. The former India captain went so far as to say that the franchise will be responsible for casualties going forward since the money paid to Abrar will go to the Pakistani government, who’ll use it to buy weapons and cause harm to Indian citizens.
KKR’s injury woes
KKR is expected to announce Simarjeet Singh as the injury replacement for Harshit Rana. The Delhi pacer had gone unsold at the IPL 2026 auction and was picked after KKR hosted a trial recently. Meanwhile, the franchise won’t name a replacement for Matheesha Pathirana. The Sri Lankan pacer is expected to be fit for at least some matches, if not the entire tournament.
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Gambhir admits mistake
Gautam Gambhir has responded to rumours suggesting he wasn’t on great terms with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, with some blaming him for their retirement from Test cricket. Gambhir admitted to making some mistakes but stated that every decision made was for the betterment of the team.
New RR & RCB owners
3 buyers have been shortlisted to become the new owners of the RCB. Before the deadline, March 16, as many as 7 suitors were in line to take over from Diageo, but 4 withdrew. Meanwhile, the competition is more intense for RR. Only one potential buyer has pulled out. Now, a 4-way battle will commence to acquire the inaugural IPL champions.
RCB’s homecoming confirmed
The Karnataka government has cleared the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to host IPL 2026 matches. On March 13, an expert committee inspected the venue’s preparedness as KSCA conducted full-scale mock demonstrations of match-day arrangements. RCB is to play 5 home matches in Bengaluru, with 2 playoff games also expected to be played.
Cricket
Pat Cummins uncertain for IPL 2026, SRH to choose Ishan Kishan over Abhishek Sharma as captain
