KKR have enough on their plate heading into IPL 2026 without having to worry about their biggest auction signing still not being cleared to travel. But that is exactly the situation they find themselves in as the tournament gets underway.
Matheesha Pathirana, bought for a whopping INR 18 crore at the auction and earmarked as one of KKR's most important players, is yet to receive clearance from Sri Lanka Cricket to join the squad after picking up a calf injury during the T20 World Cup.
Assistant coach Shane Watson addressed the situation at the pre-match press conference in Mumbai on Saturday.
IPL 2026: Shane Watson's honest assessment on Matheesha Pathirana ahead of MI vs KKR
Watson did not try to dress the situation up. He acknowledged straightforwardly that KKR are in a waiting game and that everything is being guided by Sri Lanka Cricket rather than the franchise. "With Pathirana, obviously it's a waiting game at the moment. We are being guided by Sri Lanka Cricket and we are just doing everything we can to get him over here as soon as possible," he said.
What came across clearly from Watson's words is that KKR have no interest in rushing their prized pacer back before he is ready.
The fear of Pathirana returning too early and breaking down again is very real, and Watson was candid about it. "The last thing that we want is him playing the first game trying to come back too early and breaking as well. He was one of our number one priorities in the auction. We know when he is at his best the incredible skill that he has got and the difference that he provides for the batters."
For now KKR are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping the clearance arrives sooner rather than later, not just for match readiness but to give Pathirana time to settle into the squad and find his rhythm.
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IPL 2026: Kolkata Knight Riders' growing injury crisis
Pathirana's absence is part of a broader injury picture at KKR that has made their pre-season far more complicated than they would have liked. Harshit Rana and Akash Deep have both been ruled out, with Navdeep Saini and Saurabh Dubey coming in as replacements.
On top of that, KKR had acquired Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman for INR 9.20 crore at the auction but were forced to release him amid political tensions between India and Bangladesh, eventually signing Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani as his replacement. It is a lot of upheaval for a pace attack that was supposed to be one of their greatest strengths this season.
Watson however took a glass-half-full approach, pointing out that the depth of Indian domestic talent means the replacements coming in are far from makeweights. He noted that unlike the early years of the IPL, there are no longer any weak links in domestic cricket, every player coming into a squad now can genuinely contribute.
KKR open their IPL 2026 campaign against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium today, and they will be doing so without several of the bowlers they had originally planned to rely on.
