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Matheesha Pathirana has not played competitive cricket since the T20 World Cup 2026 tournament in February, when he suffered a leg injury.
Sri Lanka's Matheesha Pathirana celebrates the wicket of England's Jacob Bethell during the third T20 cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb, 3. 2026. AP/PTI(AP02_03_2026_000355A)(AP)Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer Matheesha Pathirana has reportedly received his No Objection Certificate (NOC) to participate in IPL 2026.
According to a report in RevSportz, Pathirana will travel to Chennai and join his squad there ahead of his team's upcoming matches. Kolkata Knight Riders are next scheduled to take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk on Tuesday.
The Sri Lanka pacer had been recovering from a leg injury that he sustained during the T20 World Cup 2026 tournament in February.
In Sri Lanka's group stage match against Australia on 16 February, Pathirana bowled just four deliveries before being ruled out of the rest of the game, and eventually the rest of the tournament.
He was initially denied NOC by Sri Lanka Cricket due to his injury, but after a successful recovery and clearance of the mandatory fitness test, he is likely to join KKR.
KKR's horrific start to IPL 2026 season
The Ajinkya Rahane-led KKR side currently find themselves in 10th and last place with just one point from four matches. They are yet to register a win this season. KKR began their IPL 2026 campaign with a six-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians (MI), and then went onto suffer a 65-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Their next match against Punjab Kings (PBKS) was washed out due to rain in Kolkata, meaning that they got one point from it. However, things failed to improve for the three-time champions, as they succumbed to a three-wicket loss to Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their latest match.
Pathirana's news of getting the NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket comes at a time when the team's pace bowling lineup has been hit. Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman was released by KKR after buying him in the auction amid political tensions between India and Bangladesh.
Harshit Rana and Akash Deep were ruled out of the tournament due top injuries even before the season started.
Blessing Muzarabani, Mustafizur's replacement, registered figures of 4/41 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and will be hoping to make similar impact in the upcoming games, albeit without conceding too many runs.
Previously, Matheesha Pathirana has played for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL. He has taken 47 wickets from 32 matches, and was a key part of CSK's IPL title-winning campaign in 2023, wherein he picked up 19 wickets from 12 matches.
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