Varun Chakravarthy was limping badly during his fourth over against the Delhi Capitals on May 8. He completed his full 4 overs quota, but left the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) management with some concerns over his availability for the next match, which is against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru tonight, on May 13 in Raipur.
Ahead of the match, KKR’s assistant coach Shane Watson has provided some crucial updates on their star spinner. Watson talked about their overseas pacer, Matheesha Pathirana, as well, ahead of the RCB vs KKR match.
KKR coach issues updates on Varun Chakravarthy
KKR was on the verge of early elimination from the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026), as they had recorded back-to-back defeats in the early stage of the contest. From there, they are now reducing the gap with the top four teams in the points table. As the team is still in the title race, because of 4 consecutive wins, they will look to field their best possible playing combination against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium.
Ahead of the match, the assistant coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders told the reporters that Varun was in a lot of pain in their previous match. As of now, they are hoping for the best on his availability for the RCB match.
“He was a bit sore in the second last game and was in a lot of pain in the last one, even though he’s still bowling incredibly well. We’ve got our fingers crossed that he’ll be available for tomorrow, but we’re just not exactly sure,” Watson said in the pre-match press conference.
Will Matheesha Pathirana play vs RCB?
After missing out on the initial stage of the IPL 2026 season, Matheesha Pathirana joined the camp after proving his fitness to the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC). He is with the team, but has yet to play his first match for the Knight Riders.
“Pathirana continues to push his case. He’s fit and ready to go. But, with the way our team’s been set up, it’s been hard for him to get into the playing 11 or 12. To be able to know that a player of that calibre is ready to make his mark gives our group a lot of confidence,” Watson added.
The team is coming together
While explaining the team’s performance, Shane Watson said that there are multiple new faces in the squad. So, to get along with everyone and to develop understanding and a strong bond, they required some time. As the team is now coming together, they are now producing better results match by match.
“It was always going to take a bit of time to work out where everyone was going to fit into the squad, because there was quite a bit of turnover from last season with the players we got at the auction. And now that things have come together very nicely, our batting order is much more settled, we’ve got more of an understanding of what really works for us with the make-up of our complete team,” the assistant coach of KKR explained.
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