CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings bowling coach
Dwayne Bravo
said on Thursday that they are looking to be the best bowling team in death overs. But just like last season, there’s a bit of a worry for the defending champions at the beginning of the season due to unavailability of Sri Lankan slinger
Matheesha Pathirana
.
According to
Sri Lanka Cricket
(SLC), the paceman has suffered a hamstring injury during the team’s T20 series in Bangladesh recently. He will be out for at least four to five weeks and it will mean that Pathirana will definitely miss CSK’s first few matches. “We have to talk to SLC to know when he will be available. He is one of our premier bowlers, but these things happen,” a senior CSK official told TOI.
The
T20 World Cup
, too, is round the corner and SLC will definitely take a cautious approach before clearing their premier bowler for the rigours of IPL.
Pathirana played a massive role in CSK’s title triumph last season. His wicket-taking ability at the death was one of the reasons why teams found it difficult to build on good starts against MS Dhoni’s team. But unlike last year, CSK have some back-up options and senior Bangladesh paceman
Mustafizur Rahman
may become important in the first couple of weeks.
Mustafizur’s ability to vary his pace and bowl cutters may prove handy on Chepauk tracks, where the ball doesn’t always come on to the bat. “Fizz will join the camp on March 20, a couple of days before our opener against RCB. He knows what it takes and we’ll see how he shapes up,” the official said.
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