Why Is Matheesha Pathirana Not in KKR Playing XI Tonight for MI vs KKR IPL 2026 Game? The Sri Lanka pacer has not yet joined the squad due to fitness issues.
As Kolkata Knight Riders play their first match of the season, one of the question that’s trending is ‘why Is Matheesha Pathirana Not in KKR Playing XI Tonight for MI vs KKR IPL 2026 Game?’. It is because the Sri Lanka Cricket has still not issued a NOC for him to play for KKR, as he is recovering from a calf strain sustained during the T20 World Cup 2026 in February and was ruled out for the rest of the tournament.
According to Revsportz, Pathirana is expected to join the squad by April 6.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
MI Impact Subs: Suryakumar Yadav, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar
Kolkata Knight Riders: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani
KKR Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Tejasvi Dahiya
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The Kolkata Knight Riders pace department has been hit by injuries. Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the tournament, along with Akash Deep. The team has named Saurabh Dubey and Navdeep Saini as their replacements.
Also, Mustafizur Rahman was released from the squad due to instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. In his place, they have named Blessing Muzarabani as a replacement.
Because of these injuries, KKR’s plans from the auction have had to change. They will now hope that Matheesha Pathirana recovers quickly and joins the squad, as he is expected to play an important role with the ball.
Matheesha Pathirana has played 32 matches in the IPL, all for Chennai Super Kings. He has taken 47 wickets and has bowled at an economy rate of 8.68.
Now, he will move from the yellow jersey to the purple and gold of the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he will work under the guidance of Dwayne Bravo. The former West Indies all-rounder is already familiar to him, having served as CSK’s bowling coach during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
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