Coming into IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowling was hampered by injuries with Harshit Rana, Akash Deep and Matheesha Pathirana all missing in action or ruled out for the entirety of the season. The laundry list of injuries forced the 2024 champions to rely on replacements and inexperienced bowlers. What also went against them was the struggles of their spin twins Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine which left them winless after the first six games of the season. The side’s poor run coincided with Chakaravarthy’s form leaving the mystery spinner wicketless in his first three games before he sat out the next couple of games due to an injury. After returning to the team on April 17 vs Gujarat Titans, Chakaravarthy looked to have found his rhythm again, picking up his first wicket of the season and finishing the game with figures of 2/32. Although Kolkata lost the game, the signs of improvement were there for everyone to see. Chakaravarthy followed it up with a magical spell of 3/14 against the Rajasthan Royals at home …