CSK called in two young Sri Lankan bowlers in Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana to add to their reserve squad. The two uncapped players have joined CSK’s training camp and Pathirana will be the focus for a lot of people.
CSK includes Maheesh Theekshana & Matheesha Pathirana
Dubbed as the new Lasith Malinga, because of his action and raw pace, a lot of people are excited to see him. The 20-year-old has a sling action like Malinga and can clock outrageous speeds, which was up for display in the last U19 World Cup, where he bowled a 175kph (108mph) delivery to India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal.
It was claimed to be the fastest delivery ever bowled in any form of international cricket until it was passed as an error in judgment, thus, keeping Shoaib Akhtar’s record of 161.3 kmph against England in the 2003 World Cup intact.
Earlier, CSK bought the likes of Moeen Ali (INR 7 crore), Krishnappa Gowtham (INR 9.25 crore), and Cheteshwar Pujara (INR 50 lakh) from the IPL 2021 mini-auction to provide balance to their squad and provide Dhoni with more options. CSK also traded Robin Uthappa from Rajasthan Royals before the auction.
CSK, who will play their first game of IPL 2021 on April 10 against the Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium, finished seventh in the points tally last year in the United Arab Emirates and will be looking to better that and return to winning ways this year.
At IPL 2020, they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their history, and this year, they are not messing around.
CSK squad for IPL 2021
MS Dhoni (C & WK), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore, Krishnappa Gowtham, Moeen Ali, Cheteshwar Pujara, K Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth and M Harisankar Reddy.
