Chennai Super Kings announced on Sunday, May 5 that their star pacer Matheesha Pathirana would be returning to Sri Lanka to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury that has kept him out of action in the last week in IPL 2024. It’s a huge blow for the defending champions, who have heavily relied on Pathirana to control the flow of runs in the death overs and pick up crucial wickets under pressure.
“Matheesha Pathirana is nursing a hamstring injury and will be returning to Sri Lanka for further recovery. Chennai Super Kings wishes Pathirana a quick recovery,” CSK said in a statement on Sunday.
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CSK did not announce whether Matheesha Pathirana would return to action or not in the latter stages of the season. CSK are in the race to reach the playoffs, having won 5 out of their first 10 matches. CSK gave an update about Pathirana minutes after Ruturaj Gaikwad lost another toss, this time against Punjab at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday. As expected, CSK were without Matheesha Pathirana for the big game.
Matheesha Pathirana was their second leading wicket-taker in IPL 2024 with 13 wickets in 6 matches – one fewer than Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman who took 14 wickets in 9 matches. Notably, CSK are without both Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman at the business end of the league stage of IPL 2024. While Pathirana’s availability for the remainder of the games is uncertain, Mustafizur will take no further part in their campaign as the Bangladesh fast bowler returned home for national duty ahead of T20 World Cup 2024, starting June 2.
Notably, Mustafizur Rahman received a signed jersey from MS Dhoni before he left for Bangladesh last week.
CSK are dealing with availability issues in the second half of the tournament. While Mustafizur and Pathirana have returned home, their senior pacer Deepak Chahar picked up a hamstring injury against Punjab in Chennai. Deepak only bowled 3 deliveries before he held his leg and wobbled off the field.
There was one good news for CSK on Sunday as Tushar Deshpande, who missed their last game due to illness, returned to action.
