Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Adam Milne has been ruled out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season with a hamstring injury and the four-time champions have now signed young Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana as a replacement.
“Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have signed Matheesha Pathirana as a replacement for New Zealand pacer Adam Milne for the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Milne suffered a hamstring injury in CSK’s first match against Kolkata Knight Riders and has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament,” the IPL said in an official release.
“His replacement Pathirana, is a young 19-year old medium pacer from Sri Lanka who was part of Sri Lanka’s U19 World Cup squads in 2020 and 2022,” the statement further read.
Pathirana, who has played just two T20s so far, has been signed for Rs 20 lakh, the statement said. As per reports, Pathirana has a bowling action similar to compatriot Lasith Malinga.
Notably, Milne’s injury comes as a huge blow for the Ravindra Jadeja-led side, who are already without the services of experienced Deepak Chahar for the entire 2022 season. Earlier, Deepak Chahar suffered a back injury while undergoing rehab for a quadricep tear at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
The Yellow Brigade has witnessed a poor start to the season, with just one win from six matches. The IPL defending champions had lost four games in a row before registering a win against the Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
They will next face Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.