KKR not seeking replacements for Harshit Rana, Matheesha Pathirana
Kolkata Knight Riders will not seek replacements for Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana, albeit for different reasons.
Rana, who had to be withdrawn from India's T20 World Cup squad at the last minute due to a knee injury, will not be available for the Knight Riders this season. He will need time to recover fully as he recently underwent surgery.
Rana had emerged as a reliable pacer for the franchise over the past couple of seasons, taking 19 and 15 wickets in the 2024 and 2025 editions of the IPL respectively. He had also begun adding batting heft to his pace bowling and appeared to be cementing his place in India's T20I squad before the recent injury setback.
The Knight Riders management believes it has sufficient pace-bowling options. Besides, it does not see an obvious Indian replacement for Rana. The squad already has four Indian pacers in its ranks - Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Kartik Tyagi and Akash Deep.
Pathirana, a member of Sri Lanka's World Cup squad, had to be replaced due to injury. However, sources say the Knight Riders are not looking to seek a replacement as the franchise, which bought him for INR 18 crore, expects the slinger to be available at some point during the IPL, if not for the entire season. On Monday, the pacer's manager posted a picture of the player in KKR colours raising hopes of his participation in the season.
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The franchise recently roped in Blessing Muzarabani in place of Mustafizur Rahman, who had to be released on the instructions of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Muzarabani was to represent Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and since he was taken by KKR, parallels are being drawn with Corbin Bosch, who had spurned a PSL contract last season to join the IPL.
Sources say the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will have little basis to initiate action against the 29-year-old Zimbabwean as he had not signed a formal contract with Islamabad United. However, the management of Islamabad United has contested the claim, insisting that both cases are similar and that the PSL is best placed to respond to the issue. This website has reached out to the PSL.
The PCB had banned Bosch for one year after the South African - a Diamond pick by Peshawar Zalmi - pulled out of the PSL contract to join Mumbai Indians last year. A section of the Pakistan media has reported that Muzarabani faces similar action from the PCB.
The IPL starts on March 28 and KKR, the three-time champions, clash with five-time champions Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede on March 29.
