Blessing Muzarabani named as replacement for Mustafizur Rahman?: The first upset of the 2026 T20 World Cup has finally occurred, as Zimbabwe defeated Australia in the Group B game of the competition. In match no.19 of the tournament, Zimbabwe, after being put into bat first, scored a decent total of 169. Coming out to chase Australia fell short by 23 runs, and the group has now been evenly matched.
The Chevrons were at the top of their game, especially in the bowling department. Led by Blessing Muzarabani, who was the pick of the bowlers for the side. The left-arm seamer 4/17 in his four overs and rattled the Australian batters. He started off his spell picking up the wicket of Josh Inglis.
Blessing Muzarabani rattles Australian batters
Muzarabani then dismissed the danger man Tim David, as the latter went back to the pavilion without scoring. Australia were never in the chase, as they were struggling at 29/4 at one stage. Later on, Blessing Muzarabani picked up the wicket of set Matt Renshaw, who looked good and was dismissed for 65 off 44 balls. The final wicket of Muzarbani was of Adam Zampa.
The Kangaroos were bowled out for 146 runs. With Brad Evens picking up three wickets, Wellington Masakadza and Ryan Burl picked up one wicket each. After a sensational performance from Blessing Muzarabani, former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Shreevats Goswami has shared his views that KKR should pick the Zimbabwe pacer.
Blessing Muzarabani to play for KKR?
Shreevats Goswami said on X (formerly Twitter), “KKR please pick Blessing Muzarabani as your replacement bowler @KKRiders. At base price of 75lakh he would be ideal for Eden Gardens pitch.”
KKR please pick Blessing Muzarabani as your replacement bowler 👏 @KKRiders . At base price of 75lakh he would be ideal for Eden gardens pitch. #KKR #ZIMvAUS
— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) February 13, 2026
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) picked Mustafizur Rahman during the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) auction 2025 for a whopping price of INR 9.20 crore. However, he had to be released by the franchise due to the India-Bangladesh political conflict. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ordered the franchise to take the step.
KKR yet to announce Mustafizur Rahman’s replacement
This led to chaos in the 2026 T20 World Cup, and Bangladesh refused to travel to India, citing security reasons, and was thus replaced by Scotland after they maintained their stance.
Kolkata Knight Riders franchise is yet to announce the replacement of Mustafizur Rahman, with little time left. Muzarabani, who went unsold in the auction, can find a place for himself with the Knights.
Muzarabani has the experience of featuring in the IPL. He previously represented Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 2025 edition. Muzarabani was picked as a temporary replacement for Lungi Ngidi for the remainder of the 2025 IPL season.
However, he did not get a single match for the reigning champions and was released ahead of the auction. With his left-arm angle and experience of bowling with the new ball and the death, he can be a perfect replacement for Mustafizur.
With his lanky height of 6 feet 8 inches, he can extract more bounce from the wickets of Eden Gardens, which has been offering pace and bounce in recent times. KKR will surely have an eye on the T20 World Cup to find their replacement ahead of the tournament.
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