KKR will open their IPL 2026 on March 29 against MI in Mumbai.
Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana has recovered from the injury that he had suffered during the T20 World Cup 2026 and will be ready to join his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), for the IPL 2026 tournament.
Pathirana was bought by KKR in the IPL 2026 auction for INR 18 crores and was to lead their pace attack as the 2024 IPL champions readied for their redemption after finishing 8th in the IPL 2025 season. However, Pathirana suffered an injury midway through the T20 World Cup 2026 that put a question mark over his participation in IPL 2026.
However, on March 20, 2026, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed that pacer Matheesha Pathirana is fit and ready to join the KKR team for the new IPL 2026 campaign.
Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Bandula Dissanayake informed PTI that Pathirana has finished his rehabilitation and has been cleared to play in the IPL. However, KKR will analyze his readiness before confirming his selection.
"As far as I know, he's fit, and we have given him NOC to participate in the IPL; that's all I know at this point. He has completed rehab, and he is fit. But the franchise will be tasked with assessing his readiness. At the moment, we don't know anything about that. As far as we know, he is fit and ready to join IPL,” Dissanayake told PTI.
There is no word yet on when Pathirana will join the KKR side, which is set to depart for Mumbai on March 25 for their first encounter against the Mumbai Indians four days later.
KKR will then play three consecutive home games at Eden Gardens, against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 2, Punjab Kings on April 6, and Lucknow Super Giants on April 9.
Matheesha Pathirana honed his talents as a specialist T20 bowler for the Chennai Super Kings after joining the IPL. Since his debut in 2022, he has played 32 matches for the franchise, taking 47 wickets.
However, the pacer's IPL 2025 season was not very successful, as he took 13 wickets in 12 matches while maintaining an economy rate of 10.14 and an average of 32.62.
Pathirana’s participation will be a huge boost for KKR in IPL 2025, as they will miss their lead pacer Harshit Rana due to a knee ligament injury he suffered before the T20 World Cup 2026. Recently, Blessing Muzarabani replaced Mustafizur Rahman in the KKR setup as well.