The upcoming edition of the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-ishan-kishan-to-lead-sunrisers-hyderabad-as-pat-cummins-set-to-miss-a-few-matches-23621466" rel="nofollow">Indian Premier League</a> (IPL) is all set to begin from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the cash-rich league, Kolkata Knight Riders' assistant coach Shane Watson received a warm welcome from head coach Abhishek Nayar.
"Everyone knows Shane Watson as a player, but I've known him as someone who has played under him. I'm really really happy Watto, to have you with us. You've been a terrific addition even in this small period that I've interacted with you," he said.
"Tap into his experience, you will learn a lot. We've had a lot of good coaches, but I'm pretty sure that Shane Watson is going to add a lot of value to us. So Watto, welcome to the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-lakshmipathy-balaji-wants-kolkata-knight-riders-captain-ajinkya-rahane-to-bat-in-top-order-23621444" rel="nofollow">KKR</a> family," added Nayar.
The tournament's match is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Earlier, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary, Santosh Menon, confirmed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will host five of the RCB's IPL 2026 home games. The venue will also host one of the play-off matches and the title clash of the tournament.
Bengaluru's remaining two home matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-lakshmipathy-balaji-wants-kolkata-knight-riders-captain-ajinkya-rahane-to-bat-in-top-order-23621444" rel="nofollow">Cricket</a> Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will kick off their campaign by playing a clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
<h2>IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians: Full Squads</h2>
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert (WK), Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sarthak Ranjan, Finn Allen (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Akash Deep, Prashant Solanki, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Harshit Rana, Tejasvi Singh (WK), Daksh Kamra.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (WK), Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Corbin Bosch, Hardik Pandya (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Mayank Markande, Sherfane Rutherford, Raghu Sharma, Atharva Ankolekar, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Danish Malewar, Robin Minz (WK), Allah Ghazanfar, Naman Dhir, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar.

IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will kick off their campaign by playing a clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai

IPL 2026 | `I`m pretty sure that Shane Watson is going to add a lot of value to us...`: KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar

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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will kick off their campaign by playing a clash against Mumbai Indians (MI) on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai

KKR head coach Nayar welcomes Watson as assistant coach with heartfelt speech

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