Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are set to face Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 26, and the big question is: will Matheesha Pathirana play that match?
The pacer has missed the first half of the season due to a calf injury.
The good news for KKR is that the pacer, on whom they invested INR 18 crore, has finally joined the squad. The franchise confirmed his arrival on social media. Matheesha Pathirana was out of action due to a calf injury he suffered during the T20 World Cup 2026. After recovering, he has received the NOC from the Sri Lanka board and can play in the second half of IPL 2026.
Will Matheesha Pathirana play in LSG vs KKR match? It will depend on his training and match fitness, as it has not yet been confirmed whether he will feature or not.
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Before the start of the season, KKR faced major setbacks. Harshit Rana was ruled out of the season due to injury, and they picked Navdeep Saini as his replacement. Akash Deep was also ruled out, with Saurabh Dubey coming in as his replacement. Mustafizur Rahman was released from the squad following instructions from the BCCI due to strained bilateral relations and political tensions. Matheesha Pathirana’s availability was also not confirmed.
They brought in Blessing Muzarabani as Mustafizur’s replacement, but their bowling attack lacked experience, especially in the pace department, which affected them in the first half of the season. Maybe the availability of Pathirana for the rest of the season could boost them.
Finally, after being winless in the first six matches of the IPL 2026 season, where they lost five matches and got just one point from a rain-abandoned game against Punjab Kings, KKR have finally won their first match of the season against Rajasthan Royals.
In that match, while chasing a target of 156, they were struggling at 85 for 6 at one stage, and it looked like another loss for them. But Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy did the job, and with an unbeaten partnership, they chased the target with three balls to spare.
Their next match is against Lucknow Super Giants on April 26 in Lucknow, and they will be looking to gain some momentum with another victory, as it has been a very disappointing season for them so far.
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