Sri Lanka’s Matheesha Pathirana heaped praise on Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni for the latter’s role in his growth as a bowler. The 20-year-old has come leaps and bounds in the last few months, having had a sensational Indian Premier League for CSK earlier this year.
“As a youngster, if someone gives you confidence like that, it boosts your career. A player of that level showed faith in me and I believed I can do anything in that moment.” Pathirana said.
Speaking about things he learnt from the former Indian World Cup winning captain, Pathirana said, “I learned a lot from Dhoni. The first thing is humbleness and that’s why he is very successful. He is 42 and still the fittest cricketer which is really inspiring. When I went there, I was a kid and no one knew me and they trained and taught me several things.”
“Now, I know how to perform in any T20 game and how to balance my four overs in a match. Dhoni told me if I keep my body away from injury then I can achieve a lot for the team and the country,” he added.
Interesting, after a match against Mumbai Indians back in this season’s IPL, Dhoni had opined that Pathirana should not play red ball cricket. Stating his opinion on how to manage the Lankan pacer’s workload, Dhoni had said, “I feel he should not play red-ball cricket, not even get close to it, even play only ICC tournaments with ODIs and keep the rest as less as possible, because he’s not someone who’ll change a lot.”
Pathirana who plays for Colombo Strikers in the Lanka Premier League, is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing season with 12 wickets.
Similar to former Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga, a player Pathirana is often compared to, his slinging action is hard to pick. “I am constantly trying to improve my action and bowling. Malinga was very happy when he met me because he saw someone more like him,” the player who is also known as Baby Malinga, said.
Interestingly, his father has averred that the action isn’t due to Malinga. “We heard that his bowling action is similar to that of Malinga’s. But he has not copied it. He used to bowl like that when he started to play cricket. Rigorous training helped him improve his bowling skills,” the father had once told The Sunday Observer.
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