Matheesha Pathirana is “fit and ready to join the IPL”, Sri Lanka Cricket confirmed on Thursday, bolstering Kolkata Knight Riders’ depleted pace attack ahead of IPL 2026, which begins March 28.
There were speculation over the pacer’s availability, however, Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Bandula Dissanayake told PTI that the slinger has completed his rehabilitation and has been granted the necessary clearance.
“As far as I know, he’s fit and we have given him NOC to participate in the IPL, that’s all I know at me,” Dissanayake said.
“He has completed rehab and he is fit. But the franchise will be tasked to assess his readiness. At the moment we don’t know anything about that we don’t know anything about that. As far as we know he is fit and ready to join IPL,” he also said.
But there has been no official confirmation on when Pathirana will join the squad before they travel to Mumbai on March 25 for their opening game against Mumbai Indians on March 29.
Pathirana, who was bought by KKR for Rs 18 crore, is recovering from a calf strain which he sustained during Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup clash against Australia before he limped off the ground.
He has played 32 matches for Chennai Super Kings since making his debut in 2022, picking up 47 wickets.
Heading into the new season of IPL, KKR has been hit by injuries with their star pacer Harshit Rana unavailable, who is recovering from a knee surgery. Left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman had to be released by the franchise following a BCCI directive, and later replaced by Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani.
Ahead of their first game, KKR would be bolstered with the arrival of New Zealand trio Finn Allen, Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra, who were expected to arrive on Thursday.
