The Sri Lankan pacer, Matheesha Pathirana, is expected to remain unavailable for the Kolkata Knight Riders until April 15 or 16, as he hasn’t recovered fully from his calf strain, according to Danushka Aravinda. The Kolkata Knight Riders have been terribly struck by injury concerns in their bowling unit and the unavailability of Pathirana would be like rubbing salt in the wound to add to their woes.

Injury Setbacks Force KKR to Rebuild Pace Attack

Matheesha Pathirana was picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2026 auction for INR 18 crore. The franchise had built a fantastic bowling unit for this edition of the tournament after a relatively inexperienced pace attack in the previous season. Their bowling attack consisted of Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, Vaibhav Arora, Mustafizur Rahman, Umran Malik, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Despite having a well-balanced bowling unit, the unavailability of players called for a rebuild once again. Akash Deep and Harshit Rana were released from the squad due to injury reasons, and Mustafizur Rahman was released from the squad following the instructions of the BCCI. Blessing Muzarabani and Navdeep Saini were roped in as replacements, but they still lack the lustre that the initial bowling attack possessed.  

Bowling Concerns Loom Large as KKR Seek Redemption Against SRH

The Kolkata Knight Riders had a difficult start in the IPL 2026 season as they lost by 6 wickets against the Mumbai Indians in the first game of the season. Their batting unit was impressive with the likes of Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane and Finn Allen scoring impactful knocks throughout the innings. But when it came to the bowling of the side, it wasn’t all so bright. Every bowler had an economy rate exceeding 10, and it seemed like the entire responsibility still rested on the shoulders of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine. Vaibhav Arora conceded more than 50 runs, and only two wickets were picked up by the KKR pacers across the 19 overs. The pacers seemed to be missing their mark in the match and lacked the most important aspect of bowling in T20 cricket, which is the wicket-taking ability.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be hoping that their bowlers will rise to the challenge and provide depth in the bowling attack. Cameron Green will also have a major role to play in the bowling attack due to the weight of his price tag and the concerns about the bowling attack. KKR will be looking to make a strong comeback in their upcoming fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderabad today.