Matheesha Pathirana is set to miss the opening matches of IPL 2026, with Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Abhishek Nayar confirming the update during a press conference. He revealed that the franchise has been in touch with Sri Lanka Cricket, who indicated that the 23-year-old pacer is expected to regain full fitness by mid-April and will join the KKR squad thereafter.
โHe is with the Sri Lanka Cricket Board. They look after his rehab. The latest communication we sort of had is hopefully, somewhere in mid-April, they feel he will be match fit. Thatโs what we know as of now. Thatโs the update we got from the board. Thatโs how itโs looking now,” Nayar said in the press conferenceย facilitated by JioStar.
Notably, Pathirana was signed for INR 18 crore in the IPL auction. He was expected to solve the death-bowling woes that can bother the team in the absence of Andre Russell. However, during the T20 World Cup, the pacer sustained a hamstring injury, ruling him out of the tournament and forcing him to miss at least the first three games for KKR.
Nayar shares update on Harshit Rana
Nayar also confirmed that Harshit Rana is currently at the BCCIโs Centre of Excellence, and once they confirm the injury development, KKR can officially announce his replacement. Currently, several pacers, including KM Asif, Simarjeet Singh, and Navdeep Saini, are training with the franchiseย and one of them will be selected for the cash-rich tournament.ย
โHarshit is with the BCCI, at the CoE (Centre of Excellence). Once we get update from there, it will be easy. Soon after, we will let all know. As I said, today is the first practice game, and one more game on the 23rd. We will try to make sure we evaluate whoever we are picking before we actually make the announcement. It will take a few more days but most probably, before we leave for Mumbai,โ Nayar said.
Notably, KKR will play their first IPL 2026 game against Mumbai Indians on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium.ย
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