With less than a week until the start of the Indian Premier League, defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have suffered a major setback ahead of their first game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on March 22.
According to a report in the Times of India, star pacer Matheesha Patirana will be sidelined for four to five weeks due to a hamstring injury.
Pathirana has been out of action since March 6, when he picked up a niggle during the second T20I against Bangladesh in Sylhet and left the field before finishing his spell.
Pathirana was a key player in CSK’s previous IPL title win, taking 19 wickets in 12 matches.
“The Grade 1 hamstring usually takes nearly two weeks to fully recover. So, it remains to be seen when Pathirana will be able to join the team, and it is unclear at this time whether he will be available for the first few matches,” an IPL source told PTI.
CSK suffered an injury blow before the start of the season, as New Zealand opener Devon Conway is expected to miss at least the first half of the tournament after having thumb surgery. Conways sustained a finger injury during New Zealand’s third T20I against Australia.
CSK will play their first IPL 2024 game against RCB on March 22 at Chepauk.
CSK IPL Squad: MS Dhoni (C), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.
