IPL 2026 auction: KKR secure Matheesha Pathirana for Rs 18 crore after fierce bidding war with LSG
Matheesha Pathirana was touted to be one of the biggest picks of the IPL 2026 auction and Kolkata Knight Riders ended up splurging INR 18 crore for the Sri Lankan pacer. Pathirana may not be in the best of form, but he has been a proven player in the IPL, and KKR will hope that he brings his best.
Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana has been picked by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ahead of the 2026 edition of the IPL. There were concerns about Pathirana, who hasn't been the bowler he was a couple of years ago, due to the change in action; however, with his unique action and ability to take wickets, he was a surprise release by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before the auction, and KKR benefitted from it, coming in with the biggest purse of INR 64.3 crore.
Pathirana has played 32 matches in the IPL and has scalped 47 wickets with the ball. Pathirana will now form a potent all-Asian bowling attack for KKR, with Mustafizur Rahman being his backup. Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora and Kartik Tyagi will be Indian pace options for KKR, while Cameron Green, another recruit for the Men in Purple, will provide support.
KKR were able to build a decent team in the auction, getting the likes of Finn Allen, Rahul Tripathi, Tim Seifert, apart from Green, Mustafizur Rahman and Pathirana. KKR still might look for a middle-order option in the second accelerated round and have been able to build a decent squad, with the purse they had.
Among other big purchases, Chennai Super Kings splashed INR 14.2 crore each for Prashant Veer and Kartik Sharma, two uncapped players while the likes of Jason Holder (GT), Venkatesh Iyer (RCB) and Ravi Bishnoi (RR) were also in demand.
KKR's auction picks IPL 2026: Cameron Green - INR 25.2 crore, Tejasvi Singh - INR 3 crore, Matheesha Pathirana - INR 18 crore, Kartik Tyagi - INR 30 Lakh, Prashant Solanki - INR 30 Lakh (KKR), Rahul Tripathi - INR 75 Lakh, Tim Seifert - INR 1.5 crore, Mustafizur Rahman - INR 9.2 crore, Sarthak Ranjan - INR 30 Lakh, Daksh Kamra - INR 30 Lakh