Kolkata Knight Riders pacer Matheesha Pathirana is unlikely to make his first appearance this season in the IPL 2026 match vs Delhi Capitals on Friday.
Updated: May 8, 2026 12:41 PM IST
DC vs KKR IPL 2026: Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders had spent Rs 18 crore to bring home Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana at the IPL 2026 mini auction last year. However, nine matches in and Pathirana is yet to turn out in the IPL 2026 season and it is unlikely to change as KKR take on Delhi Capitals in match no. 51 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.
Pathirana had got injured at the T20 World Cup 2026 earlier this year and joined the KKR team after getting NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket late last month. Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Dwayne Bravo revealed that the team are not going to rush Pathirana into action anytime soon.
“He’s very close to playing, but we don’t want to rush him because of the nature of his injury. We all want to see him back, but timing is important. It’s great to have someone of his quality around the group again,” Bravo said about Matheesha Pathirana at the pre-match press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.
It means KKR pacer bowling attack is going to be once again led by Kartik Tyagi and Vaibhav Arora along with Cameron Green. “Tyagi is someone with a lot of potential and energy. He loves to learn and asks plenty of questions. The same goes for the other young bowlers. We focus on helping them bowl with plans and purpose rather than just bowling for the sake of it. They’re young, energetic, willing to learn, and you can see the improvement,” Bravo said.
Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, might be forced to leave out veteran South African batter David Miller again if they opt to play Pathum Nissanka as the opener. Miller has missed the last couple of games for DC this season since the Sri Lanka opener returned to the playing 11.
“I think not being able to play, obviously it is frustrating as a player. You always want to play every game, but such is the IPL, the structure of it with only four overseas, the combinations become really important for the team,” David Miller said in the pre-match press conference.
“So I have been around, this is not my first IPL, so I kind of understand the make up, and just really to give positive feedback to the rest of the squad, always being positive and give what I can towards the team remains really important for me,” Miller added.
DC and KKR are having contrasting fortunes with their lead spinners as well. While Kuldeep Yadav has gone wicket-less in the last couple of matches for DC, Varun Chakravarthy has been hitting his groove for KKR finally. If DC decide to drop Kuldeep Yadav, then Vipraj Nigam could come into the equation.
“In sport, everything is very result-oriented and emotional. Varun is a world-class spinner and had just come from a hectic World Cup. Sometimes a break at the right time is important. Nobody doubted his ability. When you’re that good, it’s only a matter of time before form returns. The group has supported him throughout,” Bravo said about Chakravarthy.
Dilli mein hai. Dil jeet ke jaayenge pic.twitter.com/Fj0hMSY69e
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 8, 2026
Delhi Capitals vs Kolkata Knight Riders IPL 2026 match no 51 Predicted 12
Delhi Capitals: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Rana, Karun Nair, Axar Patel (c), Tristan Stubbs, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav/Vipraj Nigam, T Natarajan
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh, Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
