Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On Friday, March 28, five-time champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the MA Chidamabram Stadium in Chennai in IPL 2025. However, the Chennai-based franchise is coming off a four-wicket win against Mumbai Indians (MI) on their home turf, the Bengaluru-based franchise are also coming off a win, which came against defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in tournament opener. While both teams will look to continue their winning run in the tournament, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side have been handed a massive setback.
As CSK look to continue their unbeaten streak at Chepauk intact, they will miss the services of Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana. The star pacer, who has been crucial for the side, was retained for INR 13 Crore price tag ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, along with the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad (INR 18 Crore), Shivam Dube (INR 12 Crore), Ravindra Jadeja (INR 18 Crore) and MS Dhoni (INR 4 Crore).
Pathirana is recovering: Stephen Fleming ahead of CSK vs RCB
However, not much is known about the pacer’s injury, but CSK head coach Stephen Fleming in the pre-match press conference confirmed his absence from the side’s upcoming match against RCB. “Pathirana is recovering from injury. So don’t expect him to play tomorrow,” Fleming said.
Additionally, the former New Zealand captain also hinted that CSK will go with a similar lineup, resulting in Nathan Ellis to continue in place of Pathirana.
Chennai Super Kings’ IPL 2025 squad
Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Deepak Hooda, Mukesh Choudhary, Shaik Rasheed, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Ramkrishna Ghosh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.
