Kolkata Knight Riders received an early boost ahead of the IPL 2026 season as Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed that pacer Matheesha Pathirana is fit and ready to join the team for the new campaign. The confirmation from the board allays concerns over KKR’s pace bowling resources, which have been severely hit by injuries.
Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Bandula Dissanayake told PTI that Pathirana has completed his rehabilitation and received the necessary clearance to participate in the IPL. However, KKR will assess his readiness before finalizing his inclusion. Pathirana suffered a hamstring injury during Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup 2026 group match against Australia and missed the rest of the tournament as the co-hosts were eliminated at the Super 8 stage.
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“As far as I know, he is fit and we have given him NOC to participate in the IPL, that’s all I know at the moment,” Dissanayake told PTI.
“He has completed his rehabilitation and is fit. But it will be up to the franchise to assess his readiness. We don’t know anything about that at the moment. As far as we know, he is fit and ready to join the IPL.”
WHEN WILL PATHIRANA JOIN KKR SQUAD?
It is not yet confirmed when Pathirana will join the KKR squad, which is scheduled to leave for Mumbai on March 25 for the opening match against Mumbai Indians four days later. KKR will then play three consecutive home matches at the Eden Gardens against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 2, Punjab Kings on April 6 and Lucknow Super Giants on April 9.
Pathirana was bought by KKR for Rs 18 crore during the IPL 2026 auction as the three-time champions looked to reshuffle their squad after finishing eighth in the points table in the 2025 season.
The Sri Lankan pacer has developed as a specialty T20 bowler in the Chennai Super Kings setup since being part of the IPL. Since his debut in 2022, he has played 32 matches for Chennai Super Kings and has taken 47 wickets.
However, the 2025 season was not great for the pacer as he picked up 13 wickets in 12 matches but had an economy rate of 10.14 and an average of 32.62.
KKR’s pace attack faced challenges before the season. Harshit Rana is recovering from sprained ligaments in his right knee and is expected to miss the new season. Bangladeshi seamer Mustafizur Rahman was dropped earlier this year on BCCI directive and KKR replaced him with Zimbabwean Blessing Muzarabani.
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Published on:
20 March 2026 07:43 IST
