Varun Chakaravarthy returns in KKR vs GT as Matheesha Pathirana likely to make Kolkata Knight Riders debut in IPL 2026
In a huge boost, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) confirmed the availability of Varun Chakaravarthy in an all-important clash against Gujarat Titans on Saturday in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the iconic Eden Gardens. The Tamil Nadu spinner suffered a hairline toe fracture on his landing foot and looked doubtful against Gujarat Titans after missing their previous game.
With the KKR management stating on the eve of the game that a decision on Chakaravarthy would be taken before the game, there were a few concerned faces on his availability. KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane quashed all doubts and confirmed Chakaravarthy’s availability for the game at the toss.
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“Varun comes in, Varun is fit,” said Rahane after KKR were sent to bat first by Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill at the coin toss. Chakaravarthy has been one of the main pillars of KKR’s turnaround in IPL 2026. “We have to win three games and then see what happens. It’s important as a team that we’ve been playing really good cricket, won four games out of five, the combination and also guys are actually clicking together,” he added.
The mystery spinner went wicketless in his first three games before taking 10 wickets in his next four and played a crucial role in KKR’s four wins on the trot. Earlier, KKR went winless in their first six games, including a washout against Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens during the initial stages.
Matheesha Pathirana makes KKR debut
Having missed the initial stages of IPL 2026 due to injury, Matheesha Pathirana joined the three-time champions mid-April. While everyone thought the Sri Lankan pacer would straightway be drafted into the playing XI, the KKR think-tank had other plans.
Bought for ₹18 crore, Pathirana had to wait on the sidelines as the KKR didn’t want to tinker with the winning combination as his entry would mean KKR will have to bench one of their four overseas names. With Cameron Green, Rovman Powell and Sunil Narine had their spots fixed, KKR had to choose between Pathirana and Finn Allen.
Also Read | IPL 2026: Big boost for KKR? Matheesha Pathirana joins team
The three-time champions went with the opening batter from New Zealand. However, things look a bit different against Gujarat Titans as KKR have named only three overseas players – Green, Allen and Narine – in their batting XI. Pathirana finally make his long-awaited KKR debut after coming in as an impact sub, in place of Allen, who scored 93 off 35 balls.
KKT vs GT playing XIs
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Cameron Green, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Varun Chakaravarthy, Saurabh Dubey, Kartik Tyagi
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohammed Siraj
KKT vs GT impact subs
Gujarat Titans: Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tewatia, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Glenn Phillips
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Matheesha Pathirana, Vaibhav Arora
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