Shreevats Goswami has questioned the Kolkata Knight Riders’ acquisition of Matheesha Pathirana for INR 18 crore at the IPL 2026 auction. Here's why the Sri Lankan may have been so expensive.
Matheesha Pathirana goes for INR 18 crore
Following some frantic bidding at the IPL 2026 auction, the Kolkata Knight Riders acquired Pathirana for INR 18 crore, a whopping INR 5 crore (about US$ 550,000) more than the amount he had gone last year.
Pathirana struggled in the 2025 edition, going for 10.13 an over across 12 games. His performance led to the Chennai Super Kings to release him ahead of the 2026 auction.
Pathirana’s unusually high amount (at the 2026 auction, only Cameron Green has gone for more at the time of writing) prompted Goswami to post his opinions on X: “18 crs for Pathirana? Just saying ... Just for unique action? CSK used him after the 12t over I remember and only [MS] Dhoni could bring out the best ... during 2024. I hope KKR manages to bring out the best in him or else this could turn out to be a huge mistake.”
With his slingshot action and very fast yorkers, Pathirana emerged as a major weapon for CSK between 2022 and 2025. He played 32 IPL games for them, picking up 47 wickets at 21.61 while going at 8.68 an over. He peaked during their IPL-winning season in 2023, when his 19 wickets came at 19.52 at an economy of 8.00.
IPL 2025 was the only year in which he conceded at over 10 runs an over through an IPL season. CSK head coach Stephen Fleming was also unhappy that an issue with his action may have been caused by Sri Lanka Cricket – perhaps part of the reason the franchise decided to release him.
On December 15, the day before the auction, Pathirana returned figures of 4-1-19-3 to help the Sharjah Warriorz defend 175 against the Gulf Giants in the ILT20. His wickets included Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Matthew Forde, and Moeen Ali.
Pathirana's potential remains without question though. KKR were pushed up to the 18 crore mark by LSG. LSG owner Sanjiv Goenka said, "Our principal targets were one international leg spinner and international pacer. [Wanindu] Hasaranga was our target for the spinner, and it was between Pathirana and [Anrich] Nortje for the pacer.
Our captain and vice captain, were both very keen on Pathirana. We were keen on Nortje as well but Pathirana came first and we went up to 17.8. We didn't have the purse to go beyond that."
