IPL 2026: Will Matheesha Pathirana be fit in time for Kolkata Knight Riders? Sri Lanka pacer's manager drops big hint

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) might have received a massive boost ahead of IPL 2026 as far as the news of Matheesha Pathirana is concerned. Pathirana had missed most of the T20 World Cup 2026 due to a calf strain in his left leg.

He sustained the injury on his left leg while bowling his first over against Australia in the group stage match of the T20 World Cup in February. He left the field immediately and was ruled out of the rest of the T20 World Cup.

However, if a recent post from Matheesha Pathirana's manager is to be believed, the Sri Lankan pacer could be back in action sooner than expected. Amila Kalugalage, the 23-year-old's manager, shared a post on micro-blogging website "X" which had a photo of Pathirana in Kolkata Knight Riders jersey.

This could be a hint at the young speedster's comeback from injury. Nothing, though, has been confirmed yet, and KKR are also yet to give an official update on Pathirana's injury.

At the IPL 2026 mini-auction in December last year, Kolkata Knight Riders had to battle it out against Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to get the services of Pathirana. KKR eventually got him for INR 18 crore.

KKR have problems of their own

With IPL 2026 fast approaching, the three-time champions have problems of their own. Kolkata Knight Riders had released Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman a few days after the auction due to geopolitical tensions between India and Bangladesh.

Harshit Rana, another one of their star pacers, is reportedly likely to be ruled out of IPL 2026 due to an injury. He had sustained a knee injury during India's T20 World Cup warm-up match against South Africa in February.

The 24-year-old eventually missed the entire tournament, and has not played competitive cricket since then. Harshit's injury concerns worsened even further after he was spotted walking on crutches during the Naman Awards function in New Delhi on Sunday.

Apart from Pathirana, another one of KKR’s marquee signings was that of Australia all-rounder Cameron Green, who was snapped up for a whopping amount of INR 25 crore. In order to boost their pace bowling department, KKR also signed Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani recently.

Kolkata Knight Riders are scheduled to begin their IPL 2026 campaign with a game against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on 29 March. The IPL Governing Council recently announced the schedule for the first 20 matches of the upcoming season. 

The schedule for the upcoming season will be announced in phases because of the upcoming assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala.