IPL 2026: Matheesha Pathirana ruled out, KKR sign Luvnith Sisodia as replacement

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have announced a replacement for injured fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, who has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) ahead of their last league fixture against Delhi Capitals. Pathirana injured his hamstring during KKR’s 12^th fixture against Gujarat Titans (GT) as he had to leave the field in the middle of his second over.

KKR signed Pathirana for INR 18 Crore at the IPL 2026 mini-auction, but his arrival in the tournament was delayed by a left calf injury he sustained during the T20 World Cup 2026. He finally joined the team in mid-April and warmed the bench for a long time before finally getting a game against Gujarat Titans.

IPL 2026: Complete list of injured players and replacements

He had bowled just 1.2 overs, giving away nine runs during the fixture, before feeling discomfort in his hamstring and leaving the field. In his place, KKR have signed wicketkeeper-batter Luvnith Sisodia for INR 30 Lakh.

Sisodia plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket and has played 15 T20s, scoring 124 runs. He has previously been a part of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camps in the IPL but has yet to play a game.

How can KKR qualify?

Meanwhile, KKR will head into their final fixture with their playoffs qualification on the line. They're ranked sixth on the IPL 2026 points table with 13 points from as many games. To progress ahead, they're dependent on Rajasthan Royals losing their last league match against Mumbai Indians (MI).

Apart from that, KKR will further need to beat Delhi Capitals by a huge margin to surpass Punjab Kings' net run rate of +0.309. If all of those criteria are met, KKR will qualify for the playoffs. Hence, they have a lot to play for in the upcoming fixture.