GT vs CSK: Matheesha Pathirana bids farewell to Chennai Super Kings with "only wish" in IPL 2024

The defending champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), showcased their trademark resilience and maintained a strong campaign despite facing various challenges in the ongoing IPL 2024. CSK has so far had a mixed season, winning six of their 11 games so far in the ongoing IPL 2024.

However, injuries to key players like Devon Conway, Matheesha Pathirana, and Deepak Chahar posed challenges to the five-time IPL champions. Despite this, the CSK remained formidable contenders, as they comfortably sit in the 3rd spot in the IPL 2024 points table, aiming to clinch their sixth title.

Well, CSK are set to face another setback in the ongoing IPL 2024, as the fast bowler Pathirana has been sidelined due to injury. Pathirana has returned to Sri Lanka to begin his rehabilitation for a hamstring injury before CSK's 28-run win over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Dharamsala.

Matheesha Pathirana to be unavailable for the remainder of the IPL 2024

A recent social media post shared by Pathirana hinted that he will be unavailable for the remainder of the ongoing IPL 2024, and it will be a big blow to CSK’s hope of retaining the trophy. In his Instagram post, the right-arm pacer bid farewell to CSK, and he also expressed his desire to see the IPL trophy remain with the defending champions.

Sharing series of pictures from his IPL 2024 campaign with the CSK, Matheesha Pathirana wrote in the caption: “A hard goodbye with my only wish to see the 2024 IPL champion trophy in CSK’s room soon! Grateful to the CSK team for all the blessings and love from Chennai.”

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A post shared by MATHEESHA PATHIRANA (@matheesha.pathirana_99)

Meanwhile, CSK pacer and fast bowler Deepak Chahar recently underwent scans, but the defending champions have not yet confirmed his official availability for the tournament. As left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman returned home to join the Bangladesh squad, CSK now have only Richard Gleeson as the sole fit overseas fast bowler in their lineup for the ongoing season.

CSK crushed PBKS in Dharamshala

However, despite these setbacks, CSK managed to stun PBKS in Dharamshala. After being invited to bat first, CSK posted 167/9 on the board, thanks to collective efforts from Ravindra Jadeja (43), Ruturaj Gaikwad (32), and Daryl Mitchell (30) against PBKS.

Defending the total, Jadeja (3/20), Simarjeet Singh (2/16), and Tushar Deshpande (2/35) took the responsibility and delivered a stunning display to help CSK beat 28 runs at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Sunday, May 5.

With this win, CSK yet again climbed to the 3rd spot in the IPL 2024 points table with 12 points from 11 games so far in the tournament. They are now only behind the table-topping Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the standings. However, both KKR and RR have 16 points to their kitty.

Notably, CSK will next face the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, May 10, aiming for their seventh win of the season to bolster their playoff hopes.