Matheesha Pathirana has cleared the mandatory fitness test conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket and received a no-objection certificate to travel to India for Indian Premier League 2026. He is now set to join Kolkata Knight Riders after recovering from injury.
According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, Pathirana is expected to arrive in India and link up with the KKR squad on April 17, when they face Gujarat Titans. However, he is likely to be available for selection only from their following match on April 19 against Rajasthan Royals, subject to clearance from the KKR medical staff.
His return comes as a timely boost for KKR, which are currently struggling at the bottom of the points table.
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The 23 year-old has played 32 times in the IPL and picked 47 wickets.
Bowling has been a key concern for KKR this season. Injuries have ruled out Harshit Rana and Akash Deep, while Mustafizur Rahman was released ahead of the tournament following instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Additionally, their lead spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine have been out of form.
KKR's struggles have been evident in their performances: they failed to defend a total of 220 against Mumbai Indians, suffered a heavy 65-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad, and most recently let a strong position slip in the death overs against Lucknow Super Giants.
Pathirana, who was signed by KKR for Rs 18 crore at the previous IPL auction, had been expected to miss the early part of the season after sustaining a calf strain during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup earlier this year. Reports on March 20 had indicated that a mid-April return was the earliest possibility, pending clearance from Sri Lanka Cricket.
In contrast, Wanindu Hasaranga who was in a similar situation after picking up an injury during the same tournament, has been ruled out of IPL 2026 entirely after failing to recover in time. Hasaranga was supposed to play for Lucknow Super Giants this year but his failure to recover from the injury has meant that he has been replaced by South Africa's George Linde.
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