IPL 2024: CSK player returns home from India to recover from injury

Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have suffered yet another setback during the ongoing 2024 campaign as Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana faced a hamstring injury and has returned to Sri Lanka for further recovery, ESPNCricinfo reported.

Pathirana has emerged as a consistent performer, securing 13 wickets with an economy rate of 7.68. However, CSK has yet to confirm whether he will be able to return later in the season.

The latest setback occurred when another pacer, Deepak Chahar, pulled his hamstring after delivering just two balls in the match against Punjab Kings at the Chepauk earlier this week.

Having missed the home fixture against Punjab Kings in Chennai, Pathirana was also ruled out of the reverse fixture in Dharamsala on Sunday which CSK won by 28 runs. 

He had sat out the IPL 2024 season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore due to a hamstring injury sustained while playing for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in Sylhet in March. He joins left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka, who was set to make his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians but has been ruled out for the entire season, on the list of sidelined Sri Lankan fast bowlers.

Sri Lanka's premier leg-spinner, Wanindu Hasaranga, also withdrew from IPL 2024 due to chronic heel pain in his left foot. Sri Lanka has yet to announce their provisional squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.

With Pathirana's departure from the IPL due to injury, England's Richard Gleeson, aged 36, becomes the sole overseas fast bowler in the CSK squad. Mustafizur Rahman's tenure with the franchise ended on May 1, and the left-arm seamer has now joined the Bangladesh side for their ongoing home T20I series against Zimbabwe.