Pathirana's availability against KKR subject to fitness: CSK bowling consultant

Pathirana, who has impressed with his pace and action reminiscent of compatriot Lasith Malinga, did not play the last game

Ahead of his side's Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bowling consultant Eric Simons said that pacer Matheesha Pathirana's availability for the game will depend on his fitness. Chennai Super Kings will lock horns against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chepauk Stadium on Monday. Super Kings are positioned number 4 in the points table with two wins and as many losses. They have lost two successive games to Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). On the other hand, the Shreyas Iyer-led team will enter the game with three wins from their three games, sitting at the second place in the table.

Pathirana, who has impressed with his pace and action reminiscent of compatriot Lasith Malinga, did not play the last game against the Men in Orange due to a niggle. Pathirana has taken four wickets in IPL 2024, including a three-fer against Delhi Capitals. Simons said that the pacer's availability is subject to fitness and there would be no risking four matches for one in the case of the youngster, who Simons said is "coming along really well."

"The availability of the pacer for the encounter against touring KKR will be subject to the green flag from the team physio. It is a long tournament and we want to be conservative with our decision-making around him. Whether he plays the next game or not will be determined by the physio," said Simons, according to CSK website. "It should not be the case of risking four games for the sake of playing one. But he is coming along very well. As a team, you have to prepare for eventualities and that is what the IPL is," he added.

Simons also said that the team has had some discussions after losing two matches in a row. "We got a round of discussion out of the way in our last practice session. So, we spent some time talking about that. We watched some videos and came up with certain plans according to the analysis. So, the simple answer is yes, we have had conversations around it (about two losses and game plan)," he said.

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, Suyash Sharma, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dushmantha Chameera, Srikar Bharat, Nitish Rana, Chetan Sakariya, Sherfane Rutherford, Sakib Hussain, Allah Ghazanfar Chennai Super Kings Squad: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Daryl Mitchell, MS Dhoni(w), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Sameer Rizvi, Devon Conway, Mustafizur Rahman, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Matheesha Pathirana, Nishant Sindhu, Aravelly Avanish. (ANI)

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