Matheesha Pathirana fastest ball: The Sri Lankan fast bowler has been handed an Indian Premier League debut by Chennai Super Kings today.
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Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have made as many as four changes to their Playing XI for the ongoing Indian Premier League 2022 Match 62 against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium.
Super Kings, who have been knocked out of the race for IPL 2022 playoffs, have made these changes to provide chances to reserve players which include two debutants.
As a result, batters Robin Uthappa (230 runs in 12 matches) and Ambati Rayudu (271 runs in 12 matches), all-rounder Dwayne Bravo (16 wickets in 10 matches) and spinner Maheesh Theekshana (12 wickets in 9 matches) have all been benched today.
New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner, one of the four players who have been included into the Playing XI by CSK today, is the only one to have played a match (four matches) this season before.
Narayan Jagadeesan CSK stats
Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batter Narayan Jagadeesan, who had played five matches (scored 33 runs in two innings) for Chennai during IPL 2020, is playing as a specialist batter today.
Jagadeesan, 26, who mostly opens the batting for his state team in this format, has scored 906 runs in 38 T20 innings at an average and strike rate of 32.35 and 117.66 respectively.
Prashant Solanki CSK record
Spinner Prashant Solanki, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, has been handed a debut by Super Kings at his home ground. Solanki, 22, has played a solitary T20 dismissing Baroda captain Krunal Pandya in a Syed Mushtaq Ali match last year.
Matheesha Pathirana fastest ball
Uncapped Sri Lanka fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana is their second debutant in this match. Pathirana, 19, has played only one List A and two T20s in a career which is at its nascent stage right now.
Pathirana, who has been roped in by CSK as a replacement for Adam Milne, has represented Sri Lanka in two ICC U-19 Cricket World Cups picking 17 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 24.52, an economy rate of 5.35 and a strike rate of 27.4.
Known for his slinging action quite similar to that of legendary Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga, Pathirana had gained limelight for bowling a 175 km/h delivery against India U-19 in 2020. In a feat which hasn’t been achieved by any bowler in the history of cricket, it had happened due to a technical error on that day.
