IPL 2026: 3 players KKR underutilised this season

It was a season of two halves for the three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2026. The Ajinkya Rahane-led side failed to qualify for the playoffs stage due to inconsistent performance.

And those inconsistencies were reflected in the team selection too, with several players who could have done more for them throughout the season not given enough opportunities to shine. Let’s take a look at the players who were underutilised by KKR in IPL 2026.

Here are 3 players who were underutilised by KKR in IPL 2026:

3. Tim Seifert

KKR was one of the worst-performing sides in the powerplay overs with the bat in IPL 2026. They tried many opening pairs this season, with Ajinkya Rahane being the constant in them most of the time. They persisted with Rovman Powell as a fourth overseas slot for the majority of the season. But neither his batting nor his bowling was utilised to its full potential by them. 

Finn Allen and Tim Seifert are one of the most destructive opening pairs in T20 cricket, and KKR had a chance to use the same for them. Instead, they chose to persist with the combination of Allen and Rahane. If Seifert had gotten more backing by the management at the top, he could have made a difference for them.

2. Rinku Singh

KKR’s middle-order batter Rinku Singh could have been used better by them in IPL 2026. The dashing left-hand batter started the season slowly, but once he found his mojo back, he was one of the most important batters for them. In 14 matches, he scored 295 runs with a strike rate of 148.99.

KKR were a struggling batting unit in most of IPL 2026, and they could have sent Rinku a little higher in the batting order. He has a versatile batting style that is suitable for any batting position. He could have made more impact with the bat in the middle, batting up the order.

1. Saurabh Dubey

Hailing from Vidarbha, Saurabh Dubey made an instant impact with the ball for KKR after getting the chances. The left-arm pacer played only four matches for the Kolkata-based franchise, picking up five wickets at the average of 21.20.

What made his performance special was his impressive economy rate of 8.26. KKR kept backing Vaibhav Arora despite repeated failures with the new ball. Instead, if they had introduced Saurabh at the start of the tournament, that could have had a positive impact on the side.