New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) The 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is set to commence on March 28 with defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opener at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Ahead of the tournament, many players are either injured or unavailable for the early matches, which has rung alarm bells for the franchises and propelled them to make changes in their plans at the last moment.

This has been a hectic year as the T20 World Cup 2026 finished a couple of days ago. Many players who got injured during or before the World Cup are still in the recovery stage and are expected to join the tournament late.

Let's have a look at the list of players who will miss the early stages or the whole tournament.

Harshit Rana: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer is recovering from a knee injury and is likely to miss the whole tournament. Rana was previously got ruled out from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 also due to the injury he sustained during the warm up game against South Africa.

Akash Deep: KKR suffered another blow ahead of the start of the tournament as fast bowler Deep is out of the whole tournament, owing to a lower back stress injury. KKR has announced left-arm pacer Saurabh Dubey as his replacement.

Matheesha Pathirana: KKR's prime bowler Pathirana is awaiting clearance from the Sri Lanka Cricket Board (SLC) after a shoulder injury cut short his time in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Pat Cummins: Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Cummins is recovering from a lumber stress injury and is expected to miss the early matches of the season. Ishan Kishan has been named the captain of the team until his absence.

Jack Edwards: Australian all-rounder, has been ruled out of the whole season due to a foot injury. SRH have announced David Payne as his replacement.

Sam Curran: Rajasthan Royals experienced all-rounder Sam Curran is ruled out of the whole tournament due to a groin issue he picked up in the aftermath of his run with England till the semi-final of the T20 World Cup. Former Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka have been named his replacement.

Josh Hazlewood: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) prime bowler Hazlewood is awaiting his clearance from Cricket Australia. He has been out of action after a hamstring injury in November last year. He is expected to miss the starting matches for the team in IPL 2026.

Nathan Ellis: Five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been dealt a major blow ahead of IPL 2026 as Australia's fast bowler Nathan Ellis was ruled out after a hamstring injury in the domestic One-Day cup final.

Mitchell Starc: Delhi Capitals is still awaiting clearance from Cricket Australia, who are managing the workload of the pacer ahead of a busy international calendar. Starc will miss the opening matches of IPL 2026.

Lockie Ferguson: Punjab Kings pacer will miss the early parts of the tournament after prioritising time at home, which he wants to spend with his family and a newborn son. The New Zealand bowler is fully fit and is currently taking part in the T20I series against South Africa.

Josh Inglis: Australian wicketkeeper-batter Inglis was acquired by Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for ₹8.6 crore in the IPL 2026 auction. He will not be fully available for the season due to his wedding in early April.

Wanindu Hasaranga: Luckhnow Super Giants (LSG) is still awaiting clearance for spinner Hasaranga from the Sri Lankan Cricket Board (SLC). Hasaranga is recovering from a hamstring injury.

--IANS

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