2 months ago
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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) adjunct manager Shane Watson said that it is "a waiting game" regarding Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana's availability for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season.
KKR caput manager Abhishek Nayar had confirmed earlier that Pathirana is acceptable to miss the aboriginal stages of the IPL arsenic helium volition beryllium disposable lone from mid-April, owing to a calf strain, for which the pacer is undergoing rehab with the Sri Lanka Cricket. Notably, Pathirana was snapped up by KKR for ₹18 crore successful the IPL 2026 auction.
Speaking astatine the pre-match league up of their IPL 2026 opener against the Mumbai Indians connected March 29, Shane Watson said that the squad is playing the waiting crippled regarding Pathirana's availability, emphasising that the squad is coordinating with Sri Lanka Cricket to guarantee helium arrives acceptable and volition not beryllium rushed backmost prematurely.
"With Pathirana, obviously, it's a waiting crippled astatine the moment. And we're being guided by the Sri Lanka Cricket. And we are conscionable doing everything we tin to get him implicit present arsenic soon arsenic possible. Because of the calibre of support, the enactment staff, and the aesculapian unit that we've got present astatine KKR. We've got the aforesaid interests arsenic Sri Lankan Cricket arsenic well. We privation Pathirana to beryllium here. We privation him to beryllium fit. We surely would ne'er propulsion him immoderate earlier than helium needs to," Watson said.
Shane Watson stressed that KKR does not privation to unreserved Pathirana backmost excessively soon and hazard further injury, adding that the squad hopes helium tin articulation soon and statesman integrating, particularly since helium was a apical precedence successful the auction. "The past happening that we privation arsenic KKR is him playing the archetypal crippled and trying to travel backmost excessively aboriginal and breaking arsenic well. So we conscionable anticipation that sooner alternatively than later, he's capable to travel implicit present and we tin truly commencement the integration process. Bringing him into KKR, obviously, helium was 1 of our fig one, 1 of our priorities successful the auction to beryllium capable to get Patirana," helium added.
