Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The reigning champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have been handed a massive blow with their star pacer missing the start of IPL 2024. With the tournament less than a week from start, the defending champions have to look for options for death bowling with Sri Lanka's Matheesha Pathirana doubtful for the start of IPL 2024.
According to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Pathirana sustained a hamstring injury during the T20I series against Bangladesh recently. With the T20 World Cup ahead, the SLC is looking for a cautious approach before he begins his stint in IPL 2024. “We have to talk to SLC to know when he will be available. He is one of our premier bowlers, but these things happen,” a senior CSK official told Times of India.
With the hamstring injury, the death specialist is likely to remain out for atleast four to five weeks. The 21-year-old played a vital role for CSK in their record fifth title triumph last season.
CSK wants Mustafizur Rahman to step up in place of Pathirana
With the CSK receiving a big setback in the absence of Matheesha Pathirana, the franchise is looking Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman to step up. The Bangladesh pacer was signed by CSK for INR 2 Crore in the IPL 2024 mini-auction.
“Fizz will join the camp on March 20, a couple of days before our opener against RCB. He knows what it takes, and we’ll see how he shapes up,” the official further added.
Chennai Super Kings IPL 2024 squad:
MS Dhoni (C & wk), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Nishant Sindhu, Ajay Mandal, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Simrajeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.
