Matheesha Pathirana has finally resumed bowling in the nets as he has been recovering from a calf injury which he sustained in the T20 World Cup 2026. The fast bowler was roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 18 crore in the IPL auction and he is yet to join the squad for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
KKR struggling in IPL 2026
KKR has been struggling in the tournament this year and one of the major reasons for the setback is that their pace department is weak. The team faced multiple injury setbacks, first they had to leave Mustafizur Rahman, then Harshit Rana was ruled out due to injury and then Matheesha Pathirana also got injured. Even Akashdeep was unavailable due to which KKR signed three new replacements – Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani, Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Dubey.
Matheesha Pathirana likely to join squad by mid-April
Now according to ESPNCricinfo report, the 23-year old is expected to join KKR by mid-April. But before that he will have to clear a fitness test and get a No Objection Certificate from Sri Lanka Cricket. The fitness test will take place next week and report further highlights that till now 45 centrally contracted players have gone through the test.
Pathirana’s record
But Pathirana’s absence has been felt, he has been the top performer in IPL. Overall he has taken 47 wickets in 32 matches with an economy of 8.68 while playing for Chennai Super Kings. In his T20I career, Pathirana has taken 146 wickets in 109 matches with an economy of 8.56.