Star Chennai Super Kings pacer Matheesha Pathirana is likely to miss the high-voltage clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on March 28 at MA Chidambaram Stadium. Head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed that the Sri Lanka international is still recovering, which might force the five-time champions to alter their playing XI in the upcoming match. Notably, Pathirana was also unavailable for selection in CSK’s opening game of the season against arch-rivals Mumbai Indians.
In the meantime, the franchise hasn’t shared details about the nature of Pathirana’s injury and it is not clear when the cricketer will be back in action. He has been an asset to CSK so far in his IPL career, clinching 34 wickets in 20 wickets. In the last edition of the cash-rich league, Pathirana was ruled out midway due to a hamstring injury but the team management showed faith and retained him ahead of the mega-auction.
In the absence of Pathirana, CSK trusted Nathan Ellis against Mumbai. The Australia international conceded 38 runs in four overs and picked up the wicket of Mitchell Santner. He partnered with Khallel Ahmed and Sam Curran, and Chennai are very likely to continue with the same bowling unit.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethel, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.