Matheesha Pathirana has been injured since T20 World Cup 2026. Credits - AFP
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have played two matches so far in the IPL 2026, and in both of the games, they came really close to victory but then they lost them. The reason? KKR's lacklustre bowling attack in the absence of Matheesha Pathirana.
Ahead of the IPL 2026, the three-time champions faced a series of setbacks in their seam department. Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are already ruled out of the tournament, Mustafizur Rahman has withdrawn, while Pathirana is still in Sri Lanka.
KKR broke the bank for acquiring Pathirana for INR 18 crore. He was set to lead their brigade in the death overs, but he sustained a calf/hamstring injury during the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Matheesha Pathirana gives good news for KKR
After Kolkata's two losses in the first two games, some positive news has emerged from Sri Lanka. Matheesha Pathirana has attained great fitness and has started his bowling drills in the nets.
He took to his Instagram to provide his KKR fans in India, where he captioned "Almost there". The 23-year-old was seen bowling with his usual run-up, but he was not operating at 100 per cent yet.
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It is understood that Pathirana will prove his fitness to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) soon, before he can fly to India to join the KKR IPL 2026 squad.
Watch: Matheesha Pathirana starts bowling for IPL 2026
SLC's fitness tests hurdle to seek NOC
In recent times, SLC has been pretty adamant about its players' fitness. The Sri Lanka board had conducted a series of fitness tests before granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to their IPL-contracted players.
KKR's Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara, who is picked by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, are two pacers who are yet to receive permissions from their board to head to India.
Although Pathirana is taking the steady road, RCB's Nuwan Thushara has dragged SLC to court after failing its fitness tests. The 31-year-old does not want to renew his central contract, which expired on March 31. Thus, he wants his NOC despite failing the fitness test. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for April 9.
When will Matheesha Pathirana join KKR?
It is earlier reported that Matheesha Pathirana has yet to receive the fitness clearance from the SLC Sports Science and Medicine Department.
Thus, the unorthodox pacer would not be joining the KKR IPL 2026 squad at least until April 15 or 16. By then, Kolkata will play three matches - versus Punjab & Lucknow at home and CSK in Chennai.
In Pathirana's absence, Blessing Muzarabani (4 wickets at 10.71) and Kartik Tyagi (2 scalps at 11.38) are taking care of the bowling duties in the death overs, but they are getting seriously bashed by the opposition batters in the given overs.
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