Chennai Super Kings’ speedster, Matheesha Pathirana, landed in Chennai to join the team for the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League. Pathirana’s manager, Amila Kalugalage, shared the pacer’s fitness update after he had fully recovered from a hamstring injury. He was declared completely fit to participate in the cash-rich league. He missed the tournament opener for CSK, which the defending champions won by 6 wickets against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 22, Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Pathirana suffered a hamstring injury during the 2nd T20I between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He was sidelined from the remainder of the series and also missed the season opener against RCB. However, he has linked up with CSK for the entire season of IPL 2024. His manager posted the update on ‘X” and captioned the post, “Wanakkam Chennai. He has just landed in India.” There was also a picture of Pathirana with the pilots of the plane.
IPL 2024: CSK vs RCB Scorecard | Highlights
HOW CRUCIAL WILL PATHIRANA BE FOR CSK?
Pathirana played a key role for CSK in their title-winning campaign in IPL 2023. The young speedster picked up 19 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 8. He finished off as CSK’s 3rd highest wicket taker after Tushar Deshpande (21) and Ravindra Jadeja (20). He could have been a sure-shot starter for CSK in their 1st match of the IPL 2024. However, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rehman didn’t disappoint in his maiden outing for CSK this season. He picked up 4 wickets, which included Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, Rajat Patidar and Cameron Green.
After Mustafizur’s stellar show with the ball in the first match, it will be interesting to see which overseas pacer will feature in CSK’s playing XI in the next match. However, Pathirana, who flourished as a death bowler for CSK, will bolster their bowling lineup with his presence. Something that Ruturaj Gaikwad’s team missed in the opener, as RCB’s Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik scored 95 runs off the last 50 balls.
Chennai Super Kings will face the Gujarat Titans in their next match on March 26, Tuesday.
