As the IPL 2026 approaches, various franchises are facing player injury issues. Among them, Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana are both affected by injury concerns. There are some major names, including Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood who are suffering from severe injuries.
However, Kolkata Knight Riders will head into IPL 2026 without seeking replacements for Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana, as per Cricbuzz.
The decision shows two different calculations from the franchise: one according to internal cover, the other on patience.
Talking about Harshit Rana, he has been ruled out of the season after a knee injury that had already forced him out of India’s T20 World Cup squad.
He has been a vital part of the KKR pace attack over the last two years. He took 19 wickets in 2024 and 15 wickets in 2025. Also, he adds batting depth lower down the order.
As per Franchise, they think they have enough Indian pace options within the squad to absorb damage, with Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, and Kartik Tyagi.
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Coming back to Matheesha Pathirana’s situation, it’s more uncertain, but not final yet. The Sri Lankan pacer was also withdrawn from his country’s World Cup squad due to his injury, though KKR are understood to stay hopeful that he will become available at some point in the IPL.
KKR bought Pathirana for INR 18 crore, so KKR is waiting rather than making a short-term decision that can complicate their balance later in the tournament.
Moreover, KKR recently brought in Blessing Muzarabani in place of Mustafizur Rahman, who has to be released on BCCI instructions. This incident caught attention due to the involvement of PSL. However, the situation is still not resolved.
As of now, KKR’s message is clear. They are prepared to manage Harshit’s absence by using the players that are already in the squad, and they will wait for Pathirana to recover and return later this year.
The team is confident about focusing on its existing players rather than making last-minute changes.