Who can replace Mustafizur Rahman in IPL 2026?

In a surprising move, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked the Kolkata Knight Riders to release Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad ahead of the Indian Premier League 2026, to which the franchise duly obliged. The board has confirmed that they will be allowing KKR to sign a replacement player for Rahman, whom they had bagged for a massive signing of INR 9.2 crore at the auction.

Being a left-arm overseas pacer and a very skilful bowler of T20 cricket, Rahman will not be an easy bowler to be replaced. But since the three-time champions would not want to let go the opportunity to buy a like-for-like replacement, CricTracker has analysed to check the potential overseas fast bowlers who can join the Knight Riders’ dressing room ahead of the upcoming season.

Here are 3 potential replacements for Mustafizur Rahman in KKR squad ahead of IPL 2026

3. Spencer Johnson

Spencer Johnson is an up-and-coming pacer from Australia, and has already been a part of the KKR set-up during the previous season. However, he failed to live up to the expectations and was subsequently dropped ahead of the auction. The left-arm pacer did register for the 2026 season, but found no takers, and had to head home unsold.

However, KKR can re-sign him to bring him back to their squad, and ask the player to represent the franchise once again. Since he has already spent a lot of time with the side and is also aware of the team culture, Johnson certainly emerges as one of the frontrunners to be playing for the Kolkata-based team ahead of Mustafizur.