CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana to miss first few matches of IPL 2024 due to injury

The 21-year-old pacer was one of the standouts for CSK in their fifth-title-winning season last year, taking 19 wickets at an average of 19.52. He has played 12 ODIs and six T20Is for Sri Lanka.

The right-arm pacer also failed to take part in the third T20I against Bangladesh. According to ESPNCricinfo, Pathirana will join CSK's squad after he gets clearance from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

While speaking at an event, CSK bowling coach Dwayne Bravo said that it takes a lot of "skill, bravery and planning" for a bowler to attack in the final over of a match.

"Death bowling is my speciality. I believe that in T20s, [death overs] is a very important segment of the game. It requires a lot of skill, bravery and planning - from preparation in practice to the games, match awareness, and situations," Bravo was quoted by ESPNCricinfo as saying.

"You have to implement it in practice and get these guys to believe in philosophy and work towards it. Last year, we had the best death-bowling team, and we look forward to repeating it... Shardul [Thakur] is also back, which gives more depth. It is always good to have depth in the squad," he added.

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start from March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at their home arena--MA Chidambaram Stadium. Pathirana could feature in the match depending on his fitness.

CSK squad for IPL 2024: MS Dhoni (C), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, 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. (ANI)