Matheesha Pathirana has given some delightful news ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. The Sri Lankan pacer won’t go under the hammer in Jeddah after being retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Privy to some inside information, Pathirana has revealed that MS Dhoni will feature for CSK in the upcoming season.
MS Dhoni will play IPL 2025, confirms Pathirana
“Everyone knows how it will be, so no need to say again. It’s really cool and nice,” Pathirana told ANI when asked about whether Dhoni will return in the yellow jersey next summer.
Given how Dhoni takes big decisions on his whim, it’ll be comforting for many to know that he’ll take the field for at least one more year. For the unaware, there was unsurity over the former CSK skipper’s participation in IPL 2025. Even Kasi Viswanathan, the CEO of the franchise, wasn’t certain of Dhoni’s plan.
Mere weeks before the retention deadline, he’d revealed that Dhoni was yet to inform them whether he’d play or not. His retirements have been all of a sudden, and despite Pathirana confirming he’ll play, one really doesn’t know what’s about to come next with him.
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Retained Pathirana happy
Since making his debut in 2022, Pathirana has been CSK‘s best bowler when available. He’s struggled with injuries in his young IPL career. The unorthodox pacer has managed to play just 20 of CSK’s 44 matches in the last three seasons. In these limited outings, he’s shown that he’s more than reliable.
Pathirana was undoubtedly the best death/middle overs bowler alongside Jasprit Bumrah in the 2024 season. Knowing what he offers is rare, CSK decided to retain him for IPL 2025 for a whopping Rs 13 crore. He was paid just Rs 20 lakh until last season. That is a 6400% increase, and Pathirana is grateful to the franchise for valuing him.
“Yeah, really, I’m excited about that, and that was my dream when I debuted for CSK. So yeah, I achieved it, so I’m really happy about that,” the pacer said on his retention.
Matheesha Pathirana CSK/IPL stats
| Matches | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike Rate | 4w |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 34 | 17.41 | 7.87 | 13.2 | 1 |
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