Bottom-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have received a huge boost ahead of their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). KKR's Rs 18 crore recruit, Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana has received NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board to play in the IPL 2026 after clearing fitness test.
The Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR have been missing the services of their star pacers, especially in death overs. With Harshit Rana ruled out, Mustafizur Rahman released, KKR pace attack has looked weak. Against a free-flowing Mukul, Cameron Green was unimpressive after recently getting the green light to bowl. Young Choudhary who won the match for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 9.
Pathirana is set to join KKR squad in Chepauk. As fate would have it, Pathirana may end up making his KKR debut against his former franchise CSK on April 14.
If Pathirana plays against CSK, it will be his first competitive game since he got injured during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Pathirana’s IPL record for CSK
Pathirana made his IPL debut in 2022. In four seasons, he claimed 47 wickets at an average of 21.61, including a four-wicket haul.
KKR's full squad for IPL 2026 -
Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rovman Powell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Navdeep Saini, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi, Blessing Muzarabani, Manish Pandey, Tejasvi Dahiya, Saurabh Dubey, Sunil Narine, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, Sarthak Ranjan, Rachin Ravindra, Prashant Solanki, Varun Chakaravarthy, Matheesha Pathirana, Umran Malik, Daksh Kamra