Pathirana continues his recovery from a left calf injury.
| Photo Credit: AFP

File photo of Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana

CSK Full Squad, IPL 2025: CSK bought seven players on the first day of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Noor Ahmad being some of their top buys. The five-time champions will go into the second day of the auction with Rs. 15.60 crore left in its purse. They still have 14 slots to fill, including three overseas players. CSK had retained five players heading into the auction — Ruturaj Gaikwad (Rs. 18 crore), Matheesha Pathirana (Rs. 13 crore), Shivam Dube (Rs. 12 crore), Ravindra Jadeja (Rs. 18 crore), MS Dhoni (Rs. 4 crore). (Full Squad)

Players Bought By CSK In IPL 2025 Auction

1. Devon Conway – Rs 6.25 Crore

2. Rahul Tripathi – Rs 3.4 Crore

3. Rachin Ravindra – Rs 4 Crore

4. Ravichandran Ashwin – Rs 9.75 Crore

5. Khaleel Ahmed – Rs 4.80 crore

6. Noor Ahmed – Rs 10 crore

7. Vijay Shankar – Rs 1.2 crore

8. Sam Curran – Rs 2.4 crore

9. Shaik Rasheed – Rs 30 lakh

10. Anshul Kamboj – Rs 3.4 crore

11. Mukesh Choudhary – Rs 30 lakh

12. Deepak Hooda – Rs 1.7 crore

13. Gurjapneet Singh – Rs 2.2 crore

14. Nathan Ellis – Rs 2 crore

15. Jamie Overton – Rs 1.5 crore

16. Kamlesh Nagarkoti – Rs 30 lakh

17. Ramakrishna Ghosh – Rs 30 lakh

Full list of retained players: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni.

Full list of released players: Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Richard Gleeson, Avanish Rao Aravelly, Devon Conway.

CSK Full Squad, IPL 2025: Players bought by Chennai Super Kings© BCCI

Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana, currently playing in the Abu Dhabi T10, expressed his excitement and happiness at being retained for a whopping Rs 13 crore by his franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), for the upcoming IPL 2025. Pathirana, known for his skills as a specialist death bowler, shared his enthusiasm and gratitude for the trust CSK has placed in 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,” said Pathirana, reflecting on his retention by the franchise.

Pathirana joined CSK in 2022, when he played two games and took two wickets. The following year, he had a breakthrough season, playing 12 games and claiming 19 wickets. In 2024, he continued his impressive form, picking up 13 wickets in six games. In total, Pathirana has played 20 matches for CSK, taking 34 wickets with an economy rate of 7.88 and a best bowling figure of 4/28.

Despite CSK’s strong performances, the team narrowly missed their playoff chances in 2024, finishing fifth under new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Pathirana also expressed his delight at the prospect of sharing the dressing room with CSK captain MS Dhoni once again. The young bowler highlighted the unique experience of playing alongside the legendary cricketer.

“Everyone knows how it will be, so no need to say again. It’s really cool and nice,” he remarked.

CSK’s strategy is likely to focus on blending seasoned players with fresh talent, maintaining the balance that has driven their past successes. Besides Dhoni, their retained players include Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, and Matheesha Pathirana.

The IPL 2025 Mega Auction promises to deliver high-stakes action, with marquee players and strategic manoeuvres set to enthral cricket fans.

Of the 574 players, 366 are Indian, while 208 are overseas, including three from associate nations. The auction will see 318 Indian uncapped players and 12 uncapped overseas players in contention. There are 204 slots available, with 70 reserved for overseas players.

The highest reserve price is set at INR 2 crore, with 81 players opting for this bracket. The largest segment comprises players with a base price of INR 30 lakh, totalling 320.

Among the standout names are Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul, part of the 12 marquee players. These three captains were released by their respective franchises ahead of the retention deadline. For the first time since 2018, the marquee players are divided into two sets, comprising seven Indian players and five overseas stars.

The first set includes Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Arshdeep Singh, while the second features KL Rahul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj. The overseas marquee players are Mitchell Starc, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, David Miller, and Kagiso Rabada.

Several teams will deploy Right-to-Match (RTM) cards during the auction. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), having retained six players each–the maximum allowed–will not have any RTM cards. Punjab Kings (PBKS) hold four RTMs, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) three, and Delhi Capitals (DC) two. Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Gujarat Titans (GT), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Mumbai Indians (MI) each have one RTM.

RTM cards enable teams to buy back released players by matching the highest bid. In this auction, the team with the highest bid can increase their offer once more, after which the team holding the RTM card can match the final bid to secure the player.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh feels five-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will retain stalwart MS Dhoni, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Rachin Ravindra and pacer Matheesha Pathirana ahead of the 2025 IPL mega auction. The veteran spinner expressed his uncertainty over Dhoni’s Indian Premier League (IPL) future but asserted that if he is available he would be the first choice of the Chennai-based franchise. The IPL franchises can retain a total of six players from their existing squad. This can be either via retention or by using the Right to Match (RTM) option.

The six retentions/RTMs can have a maximum of five capped players (Indian & Overseas) and a maximum of 2 uncapped players.

He said, “I’m not certain if Dhoni will play or not, but if he’s available, he would certainly be the team’s first choice for retention, even if he is considered an uncapped player this season. Following him, the next pick would be Ravindra Jadeja, then Rachin Ravindra. As for the captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad, he would also be a definite retention,” Harbhajan told Star Sports.

CSK captain Gaikwad finished as the second-highest run-getter in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with 583 runs including a century and four fifties. On the other hand, Jadeja and Pathirana were among wicket takers for the franchise.

“I believe these four players will be retained. Besides them, we could also see Pathirana, who is an excellent bowler, kept in the squad. And if an uncapped player is retained, there could be a surprise choice, but CSK may only retain five players. So in my view, the likely retentions — are Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Pathirana,” he added.

The auction purse for the franchises has been set at INR 120 crore for IPL 2025. The last date for the franchises to finalise their retention list is October 31.

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has given a rather unique take on Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) retention scenario, boldly suggesting that he would not retain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an uncapped player ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction. Instead, Ashwin has proposed a different name as an uncapped retention for CSK, opting to retain Dhoni as a capped player and one of the five primary retentions. Ashwin gave his perspective while discussing the retentions on his YouTube channel.

“If you say Mumbai Indians can retain six players, why can’t CSK? We have Ruturaj (Gaikwad), Jadeja (Ravindra Jadeja), (Matheesha) Pathirana, (Shivam) Dube, MS Dhoni and Sameer Rizvi,” said Ashwin.

“Just being a devil’s advocate,” Ashwin said cheekily.

Former South Africa performance analyst Prasanna Raman, more commonly known by his moniker ‘PDogg’, told Ashwin that he disagreed.

“I don’t think you should retain Sameer Rizvi for Rs 4 cr. I don’t even know whether he would agree to play for Rs 4 cr,” said Raman.

Bought ahead of IPL 2024 for a whopping Rs 8.4 crore, Rizvi failed to impress, scoring just 51 runs in eight games at a paltry strike rate of 118. Despite that, Ashwin retained hope for Rizvi, praising his good form in the UP T20 League, and pointed out that many similar players are available, which wouldn’t raise Rizvi’s price massively.

“He has been putting on a show every day. He’s playing on a different level, single-handedly in the UP T20. There is a huge upside with him. He will fall into the same bracket as Shahrukh Khan, Abhinav Manohar and Dhruv Jurel,”

The IPL Governing Council’s decision to bring back the rule that Indian players who’ve not played internationally for five or more years can be retained as ‘uncapped’ provided CSK a route to retain five-time IPL-winning captain Dhoni for just Rs 4 crore. 

However, Ashwin’s perspective could help CSK retain a stronger Indian core. Ashwin played for CSK between 2008 and 2015, winning two IPL titles.

Dubai :

Former ICC Men’s T20 World Cup champions Sri Lanka find themselves in Group D alongside South Africa, Bangladesh, Netherlands and Nepal for the upcoming tournament. This group promises thrilling matches with rivals Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, South Africa and Netherlands pitted against one another. While Nepal gears up for their second appearance in the marquee event, the group boasts no clear-cut favourite with history bearing witness that each team carries the potential to beat the other. Let’s run through the teams in this group and what we can expect from them.

Bangladesh:

Bangladesh enters the T20 World Cup with a bit of uncertainty as they continue to look for their strongest XI. Experienced opener Litton Das has been out of form of late with an average of 13.16 this year in six matches. Although teammate Tawhid Hridoy is confident that Das will make a strong comeback in the tournament.

Another concern is the injury to vice-captain Taskin Ahmed and his fitness will be monitored prior to Bangladesh’s first contest against Sri Lanka on 7 June after he suffered a side strain before the final match of the recent series against Zimbabwe.

The Tigers have backed experience. Other than Das, they have former Bangladesh skippers Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan who can provide Najmul Hossain Shanto much-needed support as he undertakes his first ICC tournament as the new captain.

Squad:

Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Taskin Ahmed (Vice Captain), Litton Kumer Das, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Shakib Al Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmud Ullah Riyad, Jaker Ali Anik, Tanvir Islam, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib. Travelling reserves: Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud

Fixtures:

7 June: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, Dallas

10 June: South Africa vs Bangladesh, New York

13 June: Bangladesh vs Netherlands, St. Vincent

16 June: Bangladesh vs Nepal, St. Vincent

Players to watch out for:

In conditions that are expected to be slow with some assistance from spinners, Mustafizur Rahman’s skill set including deceptive off-cutters can turn out to be useful.

Mustafizur has time and again proven to be a match-winner for Bangladesh. His control in the middle overs and effectiveness in the final overs with a recovering Taskin Ahmed make him a priceless inclusion.

Nepal:

Nepal will feature a young side at the T20 World Cup, with 21-year-old Rohit Paudel leading the team as captain. Paudel’s recent form against West Indies A in the lead up to the tournament is a big positive with scores of 112, 71*, and 82 in the series.

Gulshan Jha, who appeared at the U19 World Cup earlier in the year, along with 19-year-old Pratis GC are the other young stars expected to bring fireworks.

Sompal Kami, the fast bowling all-rounder, is the sole player from Nepal’s inaugural 2014 squad to feature in the 2024 edition, with veteran Karan KC joining him as the team’s senior member.

This will mark Nepal’s second appearance in the tournament making them the least experienced side in the group.

Squad:

Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee

Fixtures:

4 June: Netherlands vs Nepal, Dallas

11 June: Sri Lanka vs Nepal, Florida

14 June: South Africa vs Nepal, St. Vincent

16 June: Bangladesh vs Nepal, St. Vincent

Players to watch out for:

The latest entrant in the six sixes club, Dipendra Singh Airee, comes in with a hard-hitting reputation. Dipendra bludgeoned six sixes in the ACC Men’s T20I Premier Cup clash against Qatar becoming only the third men’s player to do so in T20Is after Yuvraj Singh (2007) and Keiron Pollard (2021).

He also is the current record holder of the fastest T20I fifty. The right-handed batter achieved this feat in nine balls, breaking Yuvraj’s record of 12 deliveries.

The 24-year-old’s contribution in the middle overs can help Nepal put up a strong challenge in the group.

Netherlands:

The Netherlands have often brought the element of surprise in an ICC tournament. They have the edge over Proteas, beating them in the last two ICC Men’s tournaments – in the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

They will face South Africa again on 8 June in New York with the aim to complete a hat-trick of wins. 20-year-old Michael Levitt has found a place in the absence of Colin Ackermann after an impressive hundred against Namibia earlier this year.

The Dutch have restored their core players for this edition with captain Scott Edwards, Bas de Leede, Logan van Beek, Max O’Dowd, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Vikram Singh and Wesley Barresi bringing the experience.

Squad:

Scott Edwards (c), Aryan Dutt, Bas de Leede, Daniel Doram, Fred Klaassen, Logan van Beek, Max O’Dowd, Michael Levitt, Paul van Meekeren, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Teja Nidamanuru, Tim Pringle, Vikram Singh, Viv Kingma, Wesley Barresi. Reserve: Kyle Klein

Fixtures:

4 June: Netherlands vs Nepal, Dallas

8 June: Netherlands vs South Africa, New York

13 June: Bangladesh vs Netherlands, St. Vincent

16 June: Sri Lanka vs Netherlands, St. Lucia

Players to watch out for:

Bas de Leede has been instrumental for the Netherlands with both bat and ball. For his impressive performance last year, de Leede was awarded with the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year.

However, the 24-year-old all-rounder has played little T20I cricket of late, with his recent appearances in the tri-series with Scotland and Ireland being his first matches in the shortest format since 2022 at the most recent edition of the T20 World Cup. De Leede was one of the Netherlands’ best at the event where he finished as their leading wicket-taker with 13 scalps.

South Africa:

Perhaps the strongest side in this group and the tournament, South Africa have put together a strong squad.

The batting line-up consists of experienced Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller and Reeza Hendricks who can bludgeon bowling attacks with Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs promising to bring the spark of youth.

The fast-bowling department displays assurance with Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Gerald Coetzee, Marco Jansen and Ottniel Baartman. Meanwhile, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi and Bjorn Fortuin complete the spin department.

However, the Proteas miss a genuine all-rounder in their line-up. Jansen has proven to be handy with the bat but primarily serves as their opening bowler.

The pressure will be on as Proteas hope to make their first appearance in a final of the Men’s T20 World Cup.

Squad:

Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs

Fixtures:

3 June: Sri Lanka vs South Africa, New York

8 June: Netherlands vs South Africa, New York

10 June: South Africa vs Bangladesh, New York

14 June: South Africa vs Nepal, St. Vincent

Players to watch out for:

The dangerous Heinrich Klaasen has been in top form since the start of this year. Across all T20 competitions, Klaasen has smashed 69 maximums in 25 matches from 25 matches.

Klaasen brings versatility. Not only can he keep wickets, but he also brings the ability to attack spin bowling with a strike rate of 159.09 against them in T20s. His performance in this year’s SA20 and the IPL has confirmed that he can play the explosive middle-order batter role to perfection.

Sri Lanka:

Wanindu Hasaranga will undertake his first major assignment as the newly appointed Sri Lanka. The Lions have struck a balance with a unit that checks most boxes.

Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, and Dhananjaya De Silva compose a firm batting group. Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka bring experience as seam-bowling all-rounders with captain Hasaranga and Dunith Wellalage as the spin-bowling all-rounders.

Maheesh Theekshana is expected to share spin duties with Hasaranga equally. Dilshan Madushanka’s bowling prowess in the Powerplay will be lethal to deal with Matheesha Pathirana to take care of the final overs with Dushmantha Chameera, and Nuwan Thushara completing the pace attack.

Squad:

Wanindu Hasaranga (c), Charith Asalanka, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Angelo Mathews, Dasun Shanaka, Dhananjaya De Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Thushara, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka. Traveling Reserves: Asitha Fernando, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Janith Liyanage

Fixtures:

3 June: Sri Lanka vs South Africa, New York

7 June: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh, Dallas

11 June: Sri Lanka vs Nepal, Florida

16 June: Sri Lanka vs Netherlands, St. Lucia

Players to watch out for:

A bowler who can deliver every ball at over 145 kmph with a lethal yorker in his arsenal – Matheesha Pathirana will be a headache for most batters, especially in the death overs.

Pathirana’s recent exploits at the Indian Premier League (IPL) have added to his reputation as a dangerous pacer despite only having played six T20Is. In only six games for Chennai in IPL 2024, the death-specialist 13 wickets with an economy rate of 7.68.

Although he returned midway through the IPL season with a hamstring injury, Pathirana has been named in the squad and is expected to be fit in time.

RCB lost to Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024 Eiminator© AFP