Sri Lanka Cricket Secretary Bandula Dissanayake has confirmed that Pathirana has completed his rehab and has also been given NOC to play in the IPL. He said, ‘As far as I know, he is fit and we have given him permission to play IPL. Now the franchise has to decide when he will enter the field.
Pathirana suffered the injury during the T20 World Cup 2026. He was ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury in the group match against Australia. At that time, even the Sri Lankan cricket team could not progress beyond the Super-8 stage.
Now despite his fitness being clear, KKR does not want to rush into playing him immediately. The team will first assess his match fitness, only then the decision to include him in the playing eleven will be taken.
In the IPL 2026 auction, KKR bought Pathirana for Rs 18 crore. Last season, the team had finished eighth, so this time special attention was paid to strengthening the squad. Pathirana is being seen as a death over specialist.
Pathirana’s T20 record has also been excellent. Since making his debut for Chennai Super Kings, he has taken 47 wickets in 32 matches. However, his performance in IPL 2025 was not as expected, where he took 13 wickets in 12 matches and his economy rate was 10.14.
The fast bowling department is already a challenge for KKR. Harshit Rana is recovering from a knee injury and may be out of the entire tournament. Whereas Mustafizur Rahman was released from the team following the instructions of BCCI.
In his place, the team has included Blessing Muzarabani. In such a situation, Pathirana’s return becomes even more important for KKR.
KKR will leave for Mumbai on March 25, where its first match will be against Mumbai Indians on March 29. After this the team will play three consecutive home matches at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Now everyone’s eyes are on when Pathirana will enter the field. If he returns to his old rhythm, KKR’s bowling will look very strong.
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