Revealed: Why Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande are not playing today's match vs PBKS and who have replaced them?

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be eyeing a crucial win against Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday (May 1). Both teams are locking horns against each other in the 49th game of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024).

CSK are coming into this game on the back of a brilliant win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last outing. The Chennai-based outfit had their back against the wall after they suffered two losses in a row against Lucknow Super Giants. The second loss also ended their unbeaten run at home this season.

However, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side bounced back in style by registering a 78-run win over the Hyderabad-based outfit. Riding on captain Gaikwad's brilliant 98-run knock, CSK posted 212/3 before their bowlers came up with a stunning effort to bowl out SRH for just 134 runs.

CSK will be looking to make the most of the momentum and win the game against PBKS as well. However, they will have to do it without two of their best performers this season - Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande. Both the players were unavailable for the game against PBKS, Gaikwad revealed at the toss.

Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande are unavailable:

Gaikwad revealed that Pathirana was suffering with a niggle while Deshpande was not feeling well. Pathirana had walked off the field in the last game against SRH after feeling some discomfort while running. Before that, he had bowled two overs and picked up the crucial wickets of Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen.

Deshpande, on the other hand, starred with the ball against SRH, picking up 4 wickets for just 27 runs. They have been replaced by Shardul Thakur and Richard Gleeson in the CSK playing eleven. While Thakur has played four games this season, Gleeson will be making his debut.

"We would have fielded first, but we weren't exactly sure. Always tough defending here with a lot of dew, but the fact that we won by 78 runs shows a lot about the team, but we'll be missing out Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande today," said Gaikwad.

"We'll have to get there early and make a good score. Every game is important. Pathirana has a slight niggle, Deshpande isn't well, so we've Shardul and Richard Gleeson makes his debut," he added.

Meanwhile, PBKS have won the toss and opted to bowl first against CSK.