IPL 2026 is all set to get underway with a match between defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28. RCB ended their long and frustrating wait for a maiden title by defeating Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the IPL 2025 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The BCCI has so far only released the schedule for the first 20 matches of IPL 2026. With the dates of Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry having been announced, the full schedule of the cash-rich T20 league should be released soon.

Meanwhile, with just a few days left for the start of IPL 2026, a number of franchises are battling player injury and unavailability issues. In this feature, we take a detailed look at the same.

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Kolkata Knight Riders: Harshit Rana, Matheesha Pathirana, Akash Deep

Team India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Harshit Rana has been all but ruled out of IPL 2026. The right-arm pacer suffered a knee injury during India’s warm-up match ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. He underwent knee surgery in February and is undergoing rehabilitation. According to some reports, Rana looks set to miss the entire IPL 2026 edition.

Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana will miss the initial phase of IPL 2026 and will be available only from mid-April. KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar confirmed the same recently. Pathirana picked up a calf strain during the T20 World Cup 2026 and was ruled out midway through the ICC event.

On Saturday, March 21, right-arm pacer Akash Deep became the latest addition to the IPL 2026 injury list. He was ruled out of the entire tournament after failing to recover in time from a lower-back stress injury and, reportedly, will need another three months to recover.

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood

Defending champions RCB will not have the services of star pacer Josh Hazlewood for their first few matches of IPL 2026. Hazlewood missed the entire Ashes 2025-26 due to hamstring and Achilles issues and is yet to recover fully. The Aussie last played a competitive match in November 2025.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins, Jack Edwards

Like Hazlewood, fellow Aussie and SRH skipper Pat Cummins will also miss the start of IPL 2026 as he continues recovery from a lumbar stress issue in his back. Cummins featured in only one of the five Ashes 2025-26 Tests. In his absence, Ishan Kishan has been named SRH’s stand-in captain.

Australian all-rounder Jack Edwards has been ruled out of IPL 2026 due to a foot injury. Edwards was signed up SRH at the mini-auction for ₹3 crore. Incidentally, Edwards was the only uncapped overseas player to be signed up at the auction.

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Chennai Super Kings: Nathan Ellis

Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be without the services of right-arm pacer Nathan Ellis for IPL 2026. The fast bowler was ruled out of the T20 league due to a hamstring injury. Ellis aggravated an old hamstring injury in the domestic One-Day Cup final played on March 11. CSK confirmed that his injury will require a minimum of three months of rehab.

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Rajasthan Royals: Sam Curran

IPL 2008 champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) will miss the services of England all-rounder Sam Curran for the upcoming edition. Curran will be unavailable due to a suspected groin issue he picked up after the T20 World Cup 2026. Him and Ravindra Jadeja were traded to RR from CSK in exchange for Sanju Samson.

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Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Starc

Delhi Capitals (DC) will miss seasoned left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc’s services for the first few matches of IPL 2026. Cricket Australia (CA) is monitoring the bowler’s workload keeping in mind the busy international cricket calendar.

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Punjab Kings: Lockie Ferguson

PBKS fast bowler Lockie Ferguson will miss the franchise’s first few games in IPL 2026. The New Zealand cricketer wants to spend some time at home with family, having become a dad recently. As of now, there are no injury concerns over the right-arm quick.