After the team’s consecutive defeats in IPL 2026, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fast bowler Navdeep Saini faced criticism for giving a sharp reply to a troll on social media.
Commenting on Saini’s post, a fan criticized his non-selection in the playing XI: “If you can’t play on the field, then have fun off the field for 2 months and then go home.” Saini responded to this with a candid and controversial comment: “So why is your ass hurting?”
The conversation has sparked a debate, especially because KKR — a three-time champion team — have started this season with two losses and are currently at the bottom of the points table without a win.
Saini joined the KKR team in late March 2026 at a base price of ₹75 lakh in place of injured fast bowler Harshit Rana. Before making a place in the main team, he was working as a net bowler. In a previous statement, Saini had described the occasion as a “revival” after several challenges in his career in recent years. He emphasized that it was only because of his continuous hard work that he got this opportunity.
The 33-year-old Delhi-born right-arm fast bowler has played 32 IPL matches so far, in which he has taken 23 wickets at an average of 42.33 and an economy rate of 8.88. **KKR squad for IPL 2026** (Includes): Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Finn Allen, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakraborty, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Tejashwi Dahiya, Navdeep Saini, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Umran Malik and Daksh Kamra.
The controversy has brought increased scrutiny on KKR as they look to make a comeback in the current season.
