IPL 2024: Massive blow for CSK as Matheesha Pathirana flies back home due to injury

Matheesha Pathirana had taken 13 wickets for CSK in the ongoing IPL 2024 before the injury.

Matheesha Pathirana has returned home to Sri Lanka in the middle of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) announced the same on May 5, 2024. This is because Pathirana had suffered from a hamstring injury and will continue his recovery back home.

CSK are in contention for the playoffs after winning five of their first ten matches. CSK provided an update on Pathirana shortly after Ruturaj Gaikwad lost another toss, this time against Punjab, at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday. As expected, CSK lacked Pathirana for the important game.

Matheesha Pathirana was their second leading wicket-taker in the IPL 2024, with 13 wickets in 6 matches, one fewer than Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, who took 14 wickets in 9 games.

However, Pathirana had missed CSK’s previous match against Punjab Kings, and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad had stated after the toss that the Sri Lankan was suffering from a hamstring niggle. He was replaced by Richard Gleeson, an England pacer making his first IPL appearance.

Matheesha Pathirana flies back to Sri Lanka to recover from hamstring injury

CSK, on May 5, 2024, announced on their website that their star pacer Matheesha Pathirana would be returning to Sri Lanka to continue his recovery from a hamstring injury that kept him out of action in the last week in IPL 2024.

It’s a major setback for the reigning champions, who had relied heavily on Pathirana to halt the flow of runs in the last overs and take important 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.

This new update leaves CSK without two of their best pacers at the business end of the league stage of IPL 2024. While Pathirana’s fitness for the next games is questionable, Mustafizur will not continue in their campaign as the Bangladesh fast bowler has returned home for national duties ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024, which begins on June 2.

Apart from these, CSK are also missing the services of Deepak Chahar, who has a hamstring injury as well.  

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