Even though Matheesha Pathirana has been with the team for two weeks after passing his fitness test back home, the Kolkata Knight Riders are considering whether to give the Sri Lankan pacer a highly anticipated debut for their away game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, according to bowling coach Tim Southee.
After suffering a calf injury during Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup encounter against Australia on February 16, the slingy pacer joined the KKR team ahead of their home match against Rajasthan Royals on May 1 to provide much-needed support to their weakened pace attack.
Since his arrival, KKR has played another game against the Lucknow Super Giants, but Pathirana, who the team had been waiting for, has not yet been given a look.
“He’s been around the group for a little bit now. We’ll look at conditions and make a decision on the side that we think is best for tomorrow’s game,” PTI quoted Southee as saying during the pre-match media interaction.
“He’s been bowling well at training and it’s great to have him a part of the side.”
KKR’s unwillingness to experiment with a successful combination may be the root of the problem, as they have struggled to win seven games this season before finally pulling off two straight victories.
Australian all-rounder Cameron Green is KKR’s star overseas acquisition this season, while Sunil Narine has been a vital member of the team since 2012. If Pathirana is to be accommodated, the squad will then have to decide between Tim Seifert and Rovman Powell.
With a low strike rate of little over 134 in five innings and a high of 39 not out off 24 balls, big-hitting Powell has not quite fired. However, following his T20 World Cup exploits, New Zealand opener Seifert has struggled, scoring 19, 0, and 0 in three games for KKR.
Pathirana has been practicing consistently for the past two weeks since joining the team, but his lack of competitive match experience—he hasn’t played since the World Cup encounter on February 16—may possibly be a contributing issue.
KKR can’t afford to make mistakes at this point in their playoff chase, as they are now ranked eighth in the standings.
Southee concurred that choosing a team involves a number of considerations.
“Yes, you take a number of things into consideration for selection. Obviously, the balance of a side, the makeup of your team. Here with the IPL, your makeup with the overseas has to change when you make those changes. Those decisions will be taken into account along with the conditions that we’re looking to be faced with tomorrow,” he said.
KKR will concentrate on winning the Powerplay against a top-heavy SRH lineup that includes Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Heinrich Klaasen, according to Southee, who also mentioned that the bowling group is optimistic following a respectable performance in the previous encounter.
In their last meeting, Kishan was removed cheaply, and Head and Abhishek failed to reach their fifties. However, Klaasen scored a half-century as SRH won after posting 226/8.
“We probably bowled reasonably well to them in the first fixture against them. As a bowling group, they’re excited for a big opportunity tomorrow,” said Southee.
He stated that winning the powerplay would be crucial.
“We’ve seen in sides that have been able to take wickets early. They’ve set up their innings nicely, and I the teams that have had a lot of success have bowled well in the powerplay.
“You have to start well, you have to try and take wickets as early as you can. Obviously this side is very top-order heavy with some great players in their top order who look to get after it from ball one, so I think it’s important to be able to try and win that power play and take wickets as early as you can.”
He also mentioned veteran spinner Narine as an excellent illustration of flexibility in a game that is becoming more and more biased in favor of batsmen.
“Look at someone like Sunil Narine who’s been around for a long time. Everyone knows all his tricks, but he’s still able to go at six an over in a tournament where runs are scored at ease.
“As a bowler, you’ve still got to look at ways to try and keep up with the development of the batters and the shots they’re playing.
“Most rules that come in tend to favour the batters, so as a bowler, you’ve just got to get on with it and try and find ways to still be successful,” Southee said.
