Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are facing uncertainty over the availability of Matheesha Pathirana for IPL 2026. The Sri Lankan pacer, who was injured previously, is reportedly currently fit and ready to take part in the next edition of the tournament. However, he has been denied clearance by the Sri Lanka Cricket, leaving KKR in a lurch, with just days to go for the start of IPL 2026.

Will Pathirana join KKR in time for IPL 2026?

As per Ananda Bazar Patrika, a source claimed that there is no clarity on when Pathirana will join the KKR camp, adding that his tickets are being booked and cancelled regularly. The three-time champions are scheduled to commence their IPL 2026 campaign from March 29 onwards, where they will take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in their tournament opener. Pathirana is expected to spearhead a weakened KKR pace unit in the absence of Harshit Rana. The Sri Lankan fast-bowler, who was released by CSK before the IPL 2026 auction, was bagged for a whooping Rs 18 crore.

“There is no clarity when Pathirana would join the camp. His ticket is getting booked and cancelled on an everyday basis. We are in regular touch with him,” the report stated.

The unorthodox fast bowler from Sri Lanka had injured himself during the T20 World Cup 2026

KKR have already suffered multiple setbacks. First, they were forced to release Mustafizur Rahman due to a directive from the BCCI amid geopolitical tensions between India and Bangladesh. Next, it was reported that Harshit Rana is set to miss majority of IPL 2026 as he has undergone a knee surgery. Menawhile, Blessing Muzarabani has been named Rahman’s replacement.

KKR full squad for IPL 2026

Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, ⁠Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green, Tejasvi Singh, Finn Allen, Karthik Tyagi, Prashant Solanki, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi,, Daksh Kamra, Rachin Ravindra, Akash Deep, Matheesha Pathirana, Sarthak Ranjan