Kolkata Knight Riders are running out of bowlers and running out of time.
Matheesha Pathirana, the Sri Lankan pacer KKR brought in after releasing Mustafizur Rahman under BCCI instruction, is now unlikely to join the squad before mid-April. He is still awaiting a No Objection Certificate from Sri Lanka Cricket, which requires him to clear mandatory fitness benchmarks including sprint, agility, and endurance tests. He sustained a calf strain during the T20 World Cup and, while he has resumed bowling in the nets, no official confirmation of his availability has come through.
Image Source: Agence France-Presse
The timing could not be worse. KKR’s bowling attack has been the most exposed in the tournament so far. They failed to defend a 200-plus total against Mumbai Indians. They then conceded 226 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their spin ace Varun Chakravarthy has been expensive in both outings. The makeshift pace attack built around Blessing Muzarabani and Vaibhav Arora has struggled to provide control or wickets when the team needed them most.
Cameron Green, the franchise’s biggest auction buy, has been present in the squad but barred from bowling by Cricket Australia as he manages a back injury. He bowled three overs in the nets on Saturday and that provided some optimism, but he is not expected to bowl in a match just yet. KKR are getting a batter when they paid for an all-rounder, and that imbalance is showing in their combination every game.
Mustafizur was released before the season began. Pathirana was signed as his replacement and has yet to arrive. The Indian pace options have been hampered by injury. It is a long list of problems for a franchise that entered the season with genuine title ambitions.
A rain-affected abandonment against Punjab Kings gave KKR their first point but resolved nothing. Until the bowling finds some answers, the results are unlikely to improve regardless of what their batting produces.
