Potential Replacements For Matheesha Pathirana In CSK For Remainder Of IPL 2024
Matheesha Pathirana has been ruled out of rest of IPL 2024 (AP)
In an unfortunate news that came as a hefty blow for Chennai Super Kings, skilful fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana recently returned to Sri Lanka to recover his hamstring, which made him unavailable for the remainder of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition.
With Mustafizur Rahman already in Bangladesh, CSK only have Richard Gleeson as their only designated overseas fast bowler. To make matters worse, Mitchell Santner and Simarjeet Singh were getting belted by Gujarat Titans openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan last night.
The playoffs loom large, and CSK are not in a comfortable position to advance to the next round. They don't have too many options to play with, which could tempt them to bring in someone who can turn things around on the business end to take them to the final four.
Here, at OneCricket, let's take a look at who could be picked by the five-time IPL champions as a last-minute replacement for the Sri Lankan star, who himself came as a replacement for Adam Milne couple of years ago.
Ottniel Baartman
Ottniel Baartman is a sensational performer for Sunrisers Eastern Cape (X.com)
The 31-year-old should ideally be a like-for-like replacement for Pathirana, as he had been reaping rewards for Sunrisers Eastern Cape for their back-to-back SA20 League titles. Earlier this year, Baartman had an average of 11.78 in the South Africa's elite T20 competition for his tally of 18 wickets of eight matches.
Marco Jansen, his teammate, finished as the highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps, but Baartman played three fewer matches.
Sean Abbott
Sean Abbott is one of the regular wicket-takers for Sydney Sixers in BBL (X.com)
Another seasoned campaigner with a highly successful career in franchise T20 leagues, Sean Abbott, could be one of the potential candidates to join CSK. Abbott played in IPL in 2015 and 2022 but never managed to leave his mark, for RCB and SRH, respectively.
Over the years, Abbott has accumulated a lot of experience, and who else but CSK relies on that while acquiring players?
Ben Sears
Ben Sears has made an impressive impact for NZ in T20Is (X.com)
As we all know, there is a Stephen Fleming factor in CSK's squad setup, with Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell, and Rachin Ravindra being examples. There could be five if they decide to bring in the emerging Kiwi Ben Sears.
Sears recently took three wickets for New Zealand in two matches when he got the opportunity in Pakistan. His victims were Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, and Babar Zaman, which indicates he knows how to pick up important wickets.
 "Ritam")
