The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will breathe a sigh of relief. The 3-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions are 5-0 after 6 matches, with rain saving grace against the Punjab Kings. They are yet to win a match. The performance has improved, but the Ajinkya Rahane-led team hasn’t been able to cross the line. Well, that might change soon.
Matheesha Pathirana to join KKR soon
According to Danushka Aravinda, a Sri Lankan journalist for the Sports Pavillion, Matheesha Pathirana will join the KKR squad on either April 18 or April 19. The unorthodox fast bowler had sustained a calf injury during the T20 World Cup 2026 and has been on the sidelines since.
Just days before the IPL 2026 season, KKR head coach Abhishek Nayar had stated that he expects Pathirana to be available by mid-April. “The latest update is that he is with the Sri Lankan cricket board for his rehab. Somewhere mid-April is when they feel he’ll be match fit,” Nayar had said during a pre-season press conference.
NOC granted for IPL 2026
The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has made it clear that centrally contracted cricketers will need to clear a fitness test if they need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for any franchise league, including the IPL. Wanindu Hasaranga didn’t get one and has been replaced by George Linde by the Lucknow Super Giants, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Nuwan Thushara has taken SLC to court over the denial of an NOC.
However, Pathirana has received one. Last week, reports had claimed that SLC had no issues with the slingy fast bowler joining KKR. The 22-year-old had already started bowling in the nets about 2 weeks ago. He’s practiced at the R Premadasa Stadium, although not at full tilt, but he was making progress. This wasn’t the case for Hasaranga, for example, as he’s been just doing batting practice.
To play the KKR vs RR match?
This means Pathirana will be available for the Rajasthan Royals match on April 19 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Now, whether he’ll play the game or not isn’t certain. KKR might decide that he needs more bowling reps and build his workload before throwing him in. But if he’s ready to bowl, KKR might just get that win.
KKR squad for IPL 2026
Batters: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen✈️(wk), Tim Seifert✈️(wk), Rovman Powell✈️, Rinku Singh (vc), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Manish Pandey, Rahul Tripathi, Tejasvi Dahiya (wk), Sarthak Ranjan
All-Rounders: Cameron Green✈️, Sunil Narine✈️, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra✈️
Bowlers: Matheesha Pathirana✈️, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani✈️, Varun Chakravarthy, Prashant Solanki, Saurabh Dubey, Navdeep Saini
