Why KKR should go for Finn Allen-Tim Seifert top-order duo in IPL 2026? Faf du Plessis weighs on Kiwi pair's impact

Ever since New Zealand's nine-wicket demolition of England in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup 2026, there has been a constant chatter on whether the New Zealand duo of Finn Allen and Tim Seifert be accommodated in the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) playing XI. The three-time champions start their IPL 2026 campaign against Mumbai Indians on March 29.

One of the major reasons for KKR's eighth-place finish in IPL 2025 was their inconsistent starts by Quinton de Kock and Sunil Narine at the top of the order. While Narine was able to amass around 250 runs in the entire season, De Kock could only accumulate 152 runs to cast a pale shadow of what actually he can do on his given day.

With the likes to Narine and Cameron Green certain to take the two overseas slots in the playing XI, KKR would need to decide who will be the other two. KKR have also roped in Zimbabwean fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani as a replacement for Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who was removed from the IPL on BCCI's directive.

Numbers tell the story for Allen and Seifert

Allen and Seifert were in tremendous form for New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2026. The Kiwi duo amassed 494 runs in eight innings for highest partnership aggregates in a single T20 World Cup edition, to set the tone for New Zealand and played a huge part in their road to the final.

In fact, it was Allen's 33-ball hundred against England in the semifinal at KKR's home ground Eden Gardens, that stole the show. While Seifert finished with 326 runs (second in the table), Allen scored 298 runs to finish in the fifth spot in the list of most run-getters in T20 World Cup 2026. The understanding between the two will help KKR.

Former South African captain Faf du Plessis weighed on having both Allen and Seifert in the KKR playing XI. “If KKR can find a way to fit Finn Allen and Tim Seifert together in the playing XI as openers, it will be really good for them. It will make their batting very strong," Du Plessis said on JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan' show ahead of IPL 2026.

"Allen and Seifert know each other quite well and have an established opening partnership between each other since they open for New Zealand in T20Is. We all saw the carnage they displayed in the T20 World Cup. That counts as a massive factor. Having both of them opening the innings is perfect for the way T20 cricket is played now.

“They both go hard from the first ball and attack in different ways. So, if KKR can fit them together at the top, it will be really nice for the team,” added Du Plessis, who has played for Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals in IPL.

For the unknown, Allen and Seifert were KKR's absolute steals during the mini-auction that took place in Abu Dhabi last December. While KKR got Seifert for ₹1.50 crore, Allen came in for ₹2 crore. Notably, Seifert was a part of KKR squad back in 2021 and played just a game. Allen is yet to make his IPL debut despite being with RCB for two years.

Kolkata Knight Riders full squad for IPL 2026

Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Matheesha Pathirana, Tejasvi Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Blessing Muzarabani, Sarthak Ranjan, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep.