Matheesha Pathirana is excited to play under CSK once again says this, “Everyone knows how it will be…”

Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, one of the players in the Abu Dhabi T10 at the moment, displayed a lot of excitement and happiness for being retained by his club, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), for the IPL 2025 auction at a staggering amount of Rs 13 crores. The Sri Lankan cricket player, who is also a specialist death bowler, could not help but show bursts of joy and appreciation for the confidence that CSK has in him. “Yes, and I really mean it; I am thrilled about that, and that was the reason I was hoping to play for CSK in my first year. So yes, I did it, and I am very pleased about it, ” Pathirana said, on the other hand, looking back at the news relating to the franchise.

Pathirana joined CSK in the year 2022, a season in which he played just two games and also took two wickets. The next season, he had a breakout year when he played 12 games and took 19 wickets. Similarly, in 2024, he was in the same form and got 13 wickets in six games. Overall, Pathirana has represented CSK in 20 matches, wherein he has grabbed 34 wickets at an economy rate of 7.88 and best bowling figures of 4/28.

In spite of the fine display by CSK, the team which carried over the championship banner, narrowly escaped making the playoffs in 2024, placing at the fifth spot under the new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Pathirana also was pleased to say that he would share the dressing room with CSK captain MS Dhoni. The young bowler called it a pleasure to play with the cricketer.

“Everyone knows how it will be, so no need to say again. It’s pretty dope and nice,” he exclaimed.

While the recruitment of older more experienced players is anticipated, it is important that CSK are able to integrate youthful aspects in consideration of their history and successes. Besides the captain Dhoni, they have retained Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Matheesha Pathirana and a few others.

The IPL 2025 Mega Auction shall whet the appetite of most cricket fanatics as it is expected to be a blockbuster mix featuring performances by iconic players and tactical plays

Out of these 574 players, 366 are from India and the remaining 208 include three players from associate countries. Among the auctioney 318 Indian uncapped players and 12 Backed players from Other Countries shall be in the fray. There are 204 available slots of which 70 are for the foreign players.

The highest reserve range that will be priced is Two Crores which is selected by 81 players. The majority of the group that has put themselves in contention for the auction falls within the range of INR 30 lakh and consists of as many as 320 players.

Winning out the 12 ‘marquee’ players are well-known cricketers, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul seconds. These three names of captains who were retained by their respective teams have been released by the teams before the deadline of retention. For the first time after two years, the auctioneers of the above players have been grouped into two, seven of whom are Indian and five of them are foreign.

The first group comprises Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Arshdeep Singh, while KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj complete the other group. The International players are Mitchell Starc, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, and Kagiso Rabada

A few franchises will exercise Right-to-Match (RTM) cards in the course of the auction. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) will not use any RTM cards since they have already retained six players each—the total number allowed by the rules. There are four RTMs for Punjab Kings (PBKS), three for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), two for Delhi Capitals (DC). And One…