IPL 2022: THIS Sri Lanka pacer replaces injured Adam Milne in Chennai Super Kings side

The 19-year-old Matheesha Pathirana from Kandy is a slinger in the Lasith Malinga mold and impressed everyone at the U19 World Cup this year.

Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana. (Source: Twitter)

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have signed up young Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana to replace injured New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne for the ongoing IPL 2022. Pathirana was part of the CSK side as one of their net bowlers during the IPL 2021 season.

The 19-year-old from Kandy is a slinger in the Lasith Malinga mold and impressed everyone at the U19 World Cup this year. “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,” a BCCI press release read.

NEWS - Matheesha Pathirana joins Chennai Super Kings as a replacement for Adam Milne.

More details - https://t.co/7QAzI8bhBk #TATAIPL | @ChennaiIPL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 21, 2022

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. He will join CSK at the price of Rs 20 Lakh.

List of replacement players so far in the IPL 2022…

GT – Jason Roy with Rahmanullah Gurbaz

KKR – Alex Hales with Aaron Finch

LSG – Mark Wood with Andrew Tye

RCB – Luvnith Sisodia with Rajat Patidar

RR – Nathan Coulter-Nile (no replacement named yet)

KKR – Rasik Dar by Harshit Rana

CSK – Deepak Chahar (No replacement named yet)

CSK – Adam Milne by Matheesha Pathirana

CSK will face arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in their next clash at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday (April 21). Matheesha Pathirana made headlines when he delivered the fastest ball of the tournament. Moreover, his 175 kmph thunderbolt to Yashasvi Jaiswal in a game against India Under-19 even surpassed Shoaib Akhtar’s lethal 161.3 kmph delivery from the 2003 World Cup. However, being a wide, the Matheesha Pathirana fastest ball was not considered a legal one.

CSK are yet to name a replacement for injured pacer Deepak Chahar, who is also ruled out of the entire IPL 2022 due to back injury.