"Huge Risk": KKR Questioned For Rs 18 Crore Swoop Of 'Hit-And-Miss' Overseas Star
KKR splashed Rs 18 crore on former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Matheesha Pathirana, with the deal raising a few eyebrows.
Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth has questioned the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) big-money acquisition of Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana during the IPL 2026 auction. On Tuesday, KKR splashed Rs 18 crore on former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Pathirana, with the deal raising a few eyebrows. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth labelled Pathirana a "hit-and-miss" choice while also highlighting that KKR signed veteran Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman to safeguard that risk factor.
"Pathirana is a huge risk. He's a hit-and-miss bowler. But KKR made a smart move by buying Mustafizur Rahman also. They've got a backup for Pathirana with Mustafizur. It was expected that with Bravo's presence, Pathirana would go to KKR. But I was surprised at his price and the number of teams that went for him," said Srikkanth.
The former India selector also admitted that he was baffled by the aggressive bidding for Pathirana, especially with some big names going unsold at the auction table.
"LSG kept going for him until 18 crores. Is he such a big bowler to go for 18 crores? His performance was very ordinary in the last IPL season. Many players get excluded after one bad season. Someone like Fraser McGurk didn't do well one season, and he's not even in the scene. Same with Devon Conway," he added.
Delhi Capitals (DC) were the first team to raise the paddle for Pathirana before Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) entered the race to intensify the bidding war. KKR, meanwhile, only came in at Rs 16 crore and ultimately stole the deal.
In the IPL, Pathirana scalped 47 wickets for Chennai Super Kings in 32 matches at an average of over 21. In the 2025 season, across 13 games, he picked up 12 wickets at an average of 32.61.
KKR Squad for IPL 2026:
New players: Cameron Green (Rs 25.2 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (Rs 18 crore), Mustafizur Rahman (Rs 9.2 crore), Tejasvi Singh (Rs 3 crore), Finn Allen (Rs 2 crore), Rachin Ravindra (Rs 2 crore), Tim Seifert (Rs 1.5 crore), Akash Deep (Rs 1 crore), Rahul Tripathi (Rs 75 lakh), Kartik Tyagi (Rs 30 lakh), Prashant Solanki (Rs 30 lakh), Sarthak Ranjan (Rs 30 lakh), Daksh Kamra (Rs 30 lakh)
Retained players: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy.
(With ANI Inputs)
Kolkata Knight Riders