KKR & MI allowed to retain Pathirana & de Kock’s injury replacements despite IPL regulations

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Mumbai Indians (MI), and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be allowed to retain last-minute injury replacements for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2027 season. As per the existing regulations, teams are only allowed to retain the injured and replacement players in case a player gets injured during or before the 12th match.’

Late signed to be retained for IPL 2027

By May 17, all three teams had played their 12th game of the IPL 2026 season. In the next week, each franchise announced replacements. On May 23, MI signed Mahipal Lomror and Ruchit Ahir for Quinton de Kock and Raj Angad Bawa, while RR named Emanjot Chahal in place of Ravi Singh. On May 24, KKR replaced Matheesha Pathirana with Luvnith Sisodia.

Looking from afar, one would’ve assumed that none of these 4 players could be retained ahead of the IPL 2027 auction. However, according to The Hindu, the three franchises will be allowed to include both injured and replacement players in their squad. An IPL official has revealed that the league authorities were informed about the injuries prior to the conclusion of the 12th match for each team. Therefore, the franchises can retain them.

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How this will benefit KKR, MI & RR

Let’s jog back to last season. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were struggling. They’d messed up at the mega-auction, and now they’re facing the consequences. But injuries to Gurjapneet Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad brought Dewald Brevis and Ayush Mhatre into the team as replacements. A year later, the two additions are the core of the franchise.

MI can easily release one of Krish Bhagat or Danish Malewar and retain either Lomror or Ahir. Similarly, KKR might release someone like Tejasvi Singh Dahiya for Sisodia, who’s also a wicketkeeper batter. Emanjot is a left-arm all-rounder like Ravindra Jadeja and has most likely been picked as an understudy to him. Jadeja missed a game or two this season, and his fitness won’t improve going forward. This way, these 3 teams can fill up the gaps even before going to the auction table.

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