Published on: May 15, 2026 5:50 pm IST|Updated on: May 15, 2026 5:50 pm IST
As the Tata IPL 2026 enters its closing phase, former champions Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Kolkata Knight Riders continue to make necessary squad adjustments through injury replacements. Let’s take a brief look into the changes made by these former champions.
The Kolkata Knight Riders confirmed the exit of all-rounder Rachin Ravindra on Friday. The Blackcaps all-rounder has returned home to focus on New Zealand’s upcoming Test tour of England, which is set to kick off from June 4 at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
Rachin was bought in the mini auctions ahead of the Tata IPL 2026 for a base price of INR 2 crore but hasn’t featured in a single game for the franchise this season. With the 3-time champions giving preference to the overpaid Cameron Green in the middle-order, Rachin never got his chance to feature in a single game this season. Rachin, a regular in New Zealand’s Test XI, will be featuring in the upcoming 3-match test series in the United Kingdom, which includes tests at Lord’s (June 4-8), The Oval (June 17-21), and Nottingham (June 25-29).
The 5-time champions Chennai Super Kings have named replacements for left-arm paceman K. Khaleel Ahmed and English all-rounder Jamie Overton, who have been ruled out for the remainder of the tournament due to a quadriceps and a right thigh injury, respectively.
Right arm paceman Kuldip Yadav has joined CSK for a base price of INR 30 lakh as Khaleel Ahmed’s replacement. At 29, the medium pacer brings limited T20 experience, having represented the Rajasthan Royals in three fixtures during 2021 and 2023. Those remain his only outings in the format to date.
On Thursday, CSK confirmed the replacement for all-rounder Jamie Overton as well. They have signed South African all-rounder Dian Forrester for a base price of INR 30 lakh. Forrester joins the setup boasting an impressive domestic record in South Africa. The 24-year-old has scored 1000+ runs at an average of 45 and also plays for CSK’s sister franchise, the Jo’Burg Super Kings, in SA20. In T20 cricket, Dian has scored 681 runs at a healthy strike rate of 141.
After failing to get a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Sri Lankan Cricket, Nuwan Thushara was unfortunate to miss the Tata IPL 2026 for the reigning champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) denied him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) after he failed to meet the board’s newly introduced fitness benchmarks.
Thushara failed SLC’s mandatory fitness test, which required players to achieve minimum performance standards across multiple metrics. He did not meet the required benchmarks, leading to denial of his NOC. The RCB team management made a late call to replace the Sri Lankan pacer with the 38-year-old English right-arm pacer Richard Gleeson.
The pacer has taken 170 wickets across 145 T20s and has featured in the IPL before. In the 2024 season, Gleeson represented the 5-time champions Chennai Super Kings, scalping a wicket in two games, whereas last season, he played for another 5-time champion, the Mumbai Indians, picking one wicket in as many games. The paceman has represented England in 2022 and has played six T20Is for them. Richard’s last T20 outing was in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League 2026 (PSL), where he represented three-time champions Islamabad United.
Tags: IPL 2026