"A hard goodbye with my only wish to see the 2024 IPL champion trophy in CSK’s room soon!"- Matheesha Pathirana
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Matheesha Pathirana bid an emotional farewell to IPL 2024 after an injury issue cut short his season. Pathirana will return to Sri Lanka to recover from his hamstring injury ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Pathirana was one of the standout performers with the ball last year in IPL and played a crucial role in Chennai's title-winning campaign. He continued in the same vein in IPL 2024, picking up 13 wickets from six games before the unfortunate injury.
The slinging pacer took to his official Instagram handle and shared an emotional parting post. He wished good luck to the Super Kings side and expressed gratitude for the love and support from the fans. Matheesha Pathirana captioned the post:
"A hard goodbye with my only wish to see the 2024 IPL champion trophy in CSK’s room soon! Grateful to the CSK team for all the blessings and love from Chennai. - #matheeshapathirana #ipl2024 #csk #msdhoni #pathirana"
"He is always taking care of me, giving me advice"- Matheesha Pathirana on former CSK captain MS Dhoni
Speaking recently on the show 'Lions Upclose', Pathirana opened up the role of MS Dhoni in his IPL career so far with Chennai Super Kings. He stated that Dhoni has guided him like a father in his cricket journey. The Sri Lankan pacer said:
"After my father, in my cricket life, mostly he (Dhoni) is playing my father's role because he is always taking care of me, giving me advice, what I have to do, similar to my father when I am at home. He tells just small things, but it makes a lot of difference. So those little things, I take a lot of confidence."
He added:
"Off the field, we don't talk that much; but if I have to ask something from him, definitely I would go to him and ask. Everytime he is telling me, 'Enjoy your game and take care of your body,' Mahi bhai, if you can play one more season, please play with us. If I'm here (laughs)."
Do you think the Chennai Super Kings can reach playoffs in the absence of Matheesha Pathirana? Let us know in the comments section below.