After six winless matches to kickstart their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) finally got their first win. Against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), Ajinkya Rahane’s side got those two points to save their sinking campaign. Now, they face the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) but the big news is definitely the arrival of Matheesha Pathirana.
The Sri Lankan pacer, who was bought for INR 18 crore, got injured at the T20 World Cup 2026 and hence didn’t join the KKR team on time. In fact, he missed the first seven games but is now fit and firing. He will walk into the KKR team, who desperately need some confidence. But who will make way for him? Let us discuss below.
Matheesha Pathirana in place of Seifert?
As mentioned above, KKR scripted their maiden IPL 2026 win in their previous outing at the Eden Gardens. They played Tim Seifert once again in that fixture, who went for a golden duck. It is he who is likely to make way for Pathirana since the other three overseas players are far more crucial for KKR.
Cameron Green, who had a tough start (56 runs in first five games), has slowly started to find his feet. He has scored a total of 106 runs in the last two outings. Also, Green has started to give KKR a few overs as well. Meanwhile, Rovman Powell adds that muscle in KKR’s middle order, having scored 120 runs at an average of 60 so far for the side. Sunil Narine, the third overseas player, is a no-brainer.
In fact, it is Narine’s dynamism that would make it easy for KKR to slot in Pathirana. The slingy pacer can straightaway replace Seifert in the side, allowing Narine to open the innings with Ajinkya Rahane. We all know Rahane’s batting is tailor-made just for powerplay. This is exactly we can say about Narine’s batting as well, who is a waste lower order the order.
Predicted KKR Playing XI vs LSG
| S. No | Player | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ajinkya Rahane | Captain |
| 2 | Sunil Narine ✈️ | All-rounder |
| 3 | Angkrish Raghuvanshi | Batter |
| 4 | Cameron Green ✈️ | All-rounder |
| 5 | Rovman Powell ✈️ | Batter |
| 6 | Rinku Singh | Finisher |
| 7 | Ramandeep Singh | Finisher |
| 8 | Anukul Roy | Bowling all-rounder |
| 9 | Kartik Tyagi | Pacer |
| 10 | Varun Chakravarthy | Spinner |
| 11 | Matheesha Pathirana ✈️ | Pacer |
| 12 (Impact Sub) | Vaibhav Arora | Pacer |
Why is Pathirana needed by KKR?
KKR dealt a triple blow before the start of the tournament. Both Harshit Rana and Akash Deep were instantly ruled out of the IPL 2026. Meanwhile, they had to let Mustafizur Rahman go on BCCI’s orders. Then, the news of Pathirana’s delayed comeback jolted KKR. For the most part of the season, they had the poorest pace attack in the league.
In fact, KKR still reply on some players who are yet to dominate the league. Kartik Tyagi has shown potentcy to improve but both Blessing Muzarabani and Navdeep Saini have been expensive. Vaibhav Arora, who they have relied on with the new ball, has 7 wickets but an economy of 11.
Worst pace-bowling team in IPL 2026
| Team | Players | Mat | Wkts | BBI | Average | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MI | 9 | 7 | 20 | 4/24 | 46.40 | 10.83 |
| KKR | 8 | 7 | 21 | 4/41 | 33.85 | 10.82 |
| Punjab Kings | 5 | 7 | 23 | 3/22 | 44.34 | 10.44 |
| SRH | 10 | 8 | 40 | 4/24 | 27.72 | 10.31 |
That’s where Pathirana comes in superbly for KKR. In powerplay overs, KKR are conceding 11.83 runs an over, with six wickets at 71.00, and a boundary percentage of nearly 33. Meanwhile, Pathirana’s powerplay numbers are great (economy of 7.21 with 5 wickets at 22.60 from 14 innings.)
However, Pathirana’s biggest weapon is his death bowling. His yorkers become unplayable sometimes, and when in full flow, he can restrict any batting unit. Despite bowling tough overs in T20 cricket, Pathirana has an economy of just over 9 since IPL 2025. In that time period, he has played 30 matches and has 34 wickets to his name.
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