Will Mustafizur lose his place to Pathirana?

Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman had a dream debut for his new Indian Premier League (IPL) side Chennai Super Kings (CSK), bagging 4 for 29 in a winning cause and being named the player of the match in Chennai on Friday.

Despite his sparkling performance against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he dismissed the likes of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, Mustafizur's place in the eleven is anything but certain for today's match against the Gujarat Titans (GT).

Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who was an important part of CSK's title winning campaign last year, has joined the team after recovering from an injury and is fit to play.

If Pathirana, who had taken 19 wickets in 12 matches in last year's edition, returns to the eleven, he most likely would take up Mustafizur's position, as team's in IPL can't field more than four overseas players in a match.

They also have the option on swapping any of the other three overseas players from the last match – Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell and Maheesh Theekshana – but as none of them are like for like replacement for Pathirana, CSK are unlikely to move towards that direction.

The match will be played at CSK' home ground of MA Chidambaram Stadium, the same venue from the first match where Mustafizur's variations proved to be effective.

Former India and CSK pacer Laxmipati Balaji was of the opinion that Mustafizur's performance against RCB might prompt CSK to stick with the Bangladeshi pacer over the Sri Lankan.

"Obviously, for a new entrant like Mustafizur to perform on the very first game was phenomenal… Probably Pathirana might have to wait. Because Mustafizur can bowl in the death and in the start as well. So probably in that aspect I feel it's a good headache to have when you have a fit Pathirana into the side," Balaji told Star Sports recently.