Could Matheesha Pathirana Miss the Entire IPL 2025 Due to Injury?

Chennai Super Kings kicked off their IPL 2025 campaign in style, securing a convincing win over arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. After restricting MI to 155, CSK comfortably chased down the target in 19.1 overs. However, amidst the celebrations, fans couldn’t help but notice the absence of Matheesha Pathirana.

His exclusion raised plenty of questions, as CSK didn’t offer any immediate clarification. While speculation ran wild, an insider from the franchise shed some light on the situation during a chat with Kris Srikkanth, revealing that Pathirana is dealing with an injury that might sideline him for the entire tournament. "It’s believed that he got hurt while working on his bowling action, but it’s difficult to say anything definitive until an official update comes from the team," the insider explained. 

Hope it's not true pls man @ChennaiIPL , @god pic.twitter.com/Se6axp8lIl

— Likhit MSDian™ (@LIKHITRTF) March 24, 2025

Adding further credibility to the reports, former CSK star Suresh Raina also mentioned during the pre-match show on JioHotstar that Pathirana was nursing an injury. Gaikwad also seemed to hint at the same during a press conference on Saturday while discussing CSK's potential pace attack. He mentioned that a final decision would be made on match day, depending on whether Pathirana was fully fit. "We had a good look at him in the practice game. He’s definitely looking in good shape, but what this year we’ve done in the auctions as well is we’ve got very good fast bowlers as backups. Even the Indian pacers. We have Mukesh, Khaleel, Anshul Kamboj has done really well in the domestic circuit. But it’s always good to have Pathirana in the team. Depending on how’s he feeling before the match, whether he’s 100 percent, we can take a call," Gaikwad said. 

In his absence, Nathan Ellis stepped into the playing XI against Mumbai. If Pathirana is ruled out for the season, CSK will have to bring in a replacement from the list of unsold players. Losing a key bowler so early in the tournament is a massive blow, but CSK have always found ways to adapt. It’ll be interesting to see how they navigate the rest of the season if Pathirana remains unavailable. 

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