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KKR fans have been waiting for this moment since the tournament began and on Saturday at Eden Gardens they finally got a glimpse of it.

What happened at the KKR nets

As per Rev Sportz report, Cameron Green, who has been used purely as a batter in KKR's opening two games due to a back injury, was spotted bowling in the nets during the team's practice session, three overs that have given the franchise and their supporters genuine reason for optimism ahead of Monday's clash against Punjab Kings.

Cameron Green's return to bowling in the nets is a significant development for a KKR side that has been badly missing his contribution with the ball.

Before the team travelled to Mumbai for the opening fixture he had bowled only a couple of deliveries during practice at Eden, making Saturday's three-over spell a clear step forward in his recovery.

Cricket Australia had previously indicated that Green would need approximately 10 to 12 days to rebuild his bowling workload after the back issue that ruled him out of bowling duties in the early stages of the tournament.

Whether that timeline allows him to bowl in Monday's game against Punjab Kings remains uncertain, but the direction of travel is clearly positive.

KKR's nightmare start and why Cameron Green's return matters so much

This is not just about one player coming back from injury, it is about a franchise that is in genuine trouble. KKR sit ninth in the IPL 2026 table with zero points and a net run rate of minus 1.964, joint bottom alongside Chennai Super Kings after two heavy defeats.

They failed to defend 220 against Mumbai Indians in the opener and then collapsed to 161 all out chasing 227 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens, losing by 65 runs in front of their own crowd.

Across those two games KKR's bowlers have conceded a combined 450 runs, a number that tells you everything about the pressure the attack has been under without Green's overs to share the load. Varun Chakravarthy went for 31 runs in just two overs against SRH, and while Blessing Muzarabani showed real promise with a four-wicket haul in that game, the overall bowling unit has looked thin and inexperienced.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi has been the one genuine bright spot with the bat, his 52 off 29 in the SRH game was a fighting innings that showed real character, but the senior core has not delivered around him and Ajinkya Rahane has already faced criticism for both his strike rate and his tactical decisions in the field.

KKR face Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens on Monday and with the tournament moving at pace, a third straight defeat would leave them in serious danger of falling too far behind to mount a meaningful playoff challenge.

Also READ: SRH dealt blow as Pat Cummins returns home; here's when he could be back for IPL 2026

The Matheesha Pathirana update and what comes next

The other piece of news from the KKR camp is that there is growing optimism around Matheesha Pathirana joining the squad in Kolkata ahead of their game against Lucknow Super Giants on April 9.

Pathirana is yet to receive his NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket but the mood within the franchise is increasingly positive that the clearance will come through in time. Between a potentially bowling-fit Green for Monday and Pathirana potentially arriving by Thursday, KKR's pace attack could look very different within the space of a week.

For a team that has started 0-2 and is staring at an early season crisis, that kind of reinforcement cannot come soon enough.