Kolkata Knight Riders hopeful of Matheesha Pathirana’s comeback

Cricbuzz reported Matheesha Pathirana has been working his way to bowling fitness, and that his franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, who bought him for INR 18 crore, remain confident that he will eventually be available this season. The Sri Lankan slinger, it was learnt by the aforementioned publication, has started bowling in the nets. He was seen at the Premadasa Stadium the other day, where he bowled in the nets, although not at full throttle.

A death-overs specialist, he thrived at Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024, bagging 13 wickets at an economy rate of 7.68 including a match-winning 4/28 against Mumbai Indians. In Pallekelle versus England, the 23-year-old produced figures of 1/18 in his full quota on an anodyne pitch. He ran the gamut from yorkers, 148kph thunderbolts, cutters on a length to spicy bumpers.

Even more impressive was the fact that he bowled two of his overs inside the PowerPlay. His comeback is key for Kolkata Knight Riders as on paper, their bowling lacks the heft that their batting now carries, given Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are out on the sidelines while Mustafizur Rahman has been deemed ineligible to participate owing to the strained relations between India and Bangladesh.