Is Mike Hesson in danger of losing his job? KKR won’t be changing the captain. Why Gautam Gambhir persisted with Abhishek Sharma and added Sanju Samson to the mix. Will the IPL founder become a franchise owner? Will elections affect IPL 2026?

IPL 2026 schedule to be changed?

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the dates for state elections. This means the entire IPL 2026 schedule will be revealed soon. The BCCI had unveiled the first 20 fixtures, waiting for ECI’s decision. However, a problem arises. The Assam election and RR home matches in Guwahati coincide. Will BCCI be forced to shift these games?

Lalit Modi’s IPL return

Lalit Modi, founder and creator of IPL, is interested in buying RR. It turns out that the bid of INR 11,791 crore that the franchise received was from a consortium Modi was part of. The administrator has been banned for life by the BCCI, and it’s yet to be seen whether he’ll be allowed to return to the IPL.

Why India picked Samson

Gautam Gambhir has clarified that Abhishek Sharma’s dismissals against off-spinners weren’t the reason behind Sanju Samson’s inclusion. The Indian head coach felt they weren’t able to maximise the powerplay and needed more firepower up top. This decision changed it all, with India and Samson going on a run to win the T20 World Cup.

Latest on Cricket

Gambhir’s magic advice

What did Gambhir tell Abhishek after he registered 3 ducks in the T20 World Cup? Firstly, the head coach told him to be even more aggressive, to commit to the team cause, and not to fear failure. Secondly, Gambhir, along with Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, told Abhishek to delete social media apps from his phone to ignore all the noise.

PCB to sack Hesson?

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has claimed that newly appointed selectors Misbah-ul-Haq and Sarfaraz Ahmed don’t like Mike Hesson. He thinks the duo will advise the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, against him, and the Pakistan head coach will no longer have the power to select the team he wants.

No new KKR captain

After reports suggesting that KKR won’t continue with Ajinkya Rahane as captain for IPL 2026, it’s come out that KKR believes Rahane is their best option as skipper. Other than the former India captain, KKR only has a couple of players who are immediate starters and have leadership experience, like Rinku Singh and Rovman Powell.