Kolkata Knight Riders are set to be without pacer Harshit Rana for a significant part of the upcoming IPL season as he continues to recover from knee surgery, dealing a major early setback to the franchise.
According to a report by 'ESPNCricinfo', the BCCI is yet to fix a timeline for his return. Rana, who sustained a ligament strain in his right knee injury during India's T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa, is currently undergoing rehabilitation, with "no firm date of return earmarked by the BCCI medical team yet".
The pacer had pulled up after delivering just one over in that game and was subsequently ruled out of the T20 World Cup following surgery. He was replaced by Mohammed Siraj, who played one match (against the USA) during India's title-winning campaign.
Rana was on Sunday awarded the Best International Debutant award at the BCCI Naman Awards.
His absence would come as a major setback for three-time IPL champions KKR, who are already grappling with multiple fitness concerns.
Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana has been nursing a calf strain sustained during the T20 World Cup, which had initially not been expected to affect his IPL availability.
KKR are also without left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman after the BCCI instructed it to release the Bangladeshi player amid strained geopolitical relations between India and Bangladesh earlier this year.
The franchise has since signed Zimbabwe quick Blessing Muzarabani as a replacement. Muzarabani opted out of his Pakistan Super League stint with Islamabad United as he is set to join the squad here Tuesday.
KKR will begin their pre-season training here from Wednesday.
KKR's other pace options include Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi, and all-rounders Cameron Green and Ramandeep Singh.
KKR will begin their campaign against Mumbai Indians in an away fixture on March 29, before hosting Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants in the opening phase of the tournament.