Chennai Super Kings are sweating hard over the fitness of their key players.
Sisanda Magala is set to miss at least the next couple of weeks after injuring his bowling arm while fielding against Rajasthan Royals. The Proteas pacer seems to have split webbings while taking Ravichandran Ashwin’s catch on the last ball of the 15th over. As soon as Magala completed the catch, he summoned the team physio to show the injured fingers.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirms in the press conference that Sisanda Magala will miss the action for a minimum of two weeks after injuring the fingers of his bowling arm. This will be a big blow for CSK, who are already sweating hard over the fitness concerns of Deepak Chahar and Ben Stokes. The 32-year-old left the field soon after the dismissal of Ravichandran Ashwin and didn’t feature in the game again.
He bowled two overs for 14 runs without taking any wicket against Rajasthan Royals before injuring himself. Sisanda Magala’s absence will increase the headache of the team management as Magala is a death-overs specialist. CSK are currently lacking a quality pacer to operate effectively in the final overs.
In fact, the South African speedster was included in the squad for his superior ability in the slog overs. He can nail yorkers consistently and bowl the heavy balls, too, if required. He showcased his expertise in the SA20 league earlier in the year.
Sisanda Magala was bought in as a replacement for the Kiwi pacer Kyle Jamieson at his base price of INR 50 Lakh. But, Magala has also injured himself now after playing only a game and a half. In the two games, Sisanda Magala has snared only one wicket and conceded runs at an economy rate of 8.50 in IPL 2023.
CSK were already missing their premium pacer Deepak Chahar (hamstring) and the all-rounder Ben Stokes (toe). Ben Stokes is recovering gradually day by day, whereas Deepak Chahar will take another week or so to recover completely. Moeen Ali was also unwell in the last game, but gladly recovered in time to take the field against Rajasthan Royals.
CSK have Dwaine Pretorius and Matheesha Pathirana in their squad. Expect one of them to play the next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore in M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday (April 17).
