Matheesha Pathirana: How a viral video caught MS Dhoni’s attention and CSK came calling

Pathirana is now 20, and is CSK’s death-over specialist. With his slinging action, reminiscent of Lasith Malinga, he was already hailed in Sri Lanka as ‘Podi (little) Malinga’, “Mini Mali (Malinga’s nickname was Mali), and now called, “Baby Malinga” by CSK fans.

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.

Chennai Super Kings bowler Matheesha Pathirana celebrates after taking the wicket of Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Shahbaz Ahmed during an IPL 2023 match.

Ever since Pathirana started making heads turn in school cricket, he has been training with Malinga as well. Although he didn’t have a good Under-19 World Cup in 2020, he was a far improved bowler in the 2022 edition which was held just before last year’s IPL. “In the last three years, he has developed a lot. The video that Dhoni saw was not from a first-class game or something, but from a school tournament against (Sanath) Jayasuriya’s school. And very soon even Malinga, who has been coaching few boys with similar action, started showing interest in Pathirana too. Unlike others in the group, what impressed Malinga was Pathirana’s speed and the accuracy he was able to get. He still has work about his consistency in gaining accuracy, but you can see him gaining confidence,” Fassy said.

On Monday night, with Chennai on the back foot, Pathirana delivered two crucial overs (18th and 20th) to deliver a tight win over Royal Challengers Bangalore. Despite the short boundaries in Bangalore, Pathirana conceded only 14 runs in those two overs, showing remarkable calmness and accuracy under pressure.

Matheesha Pathirana was part of Sri Lanka’s U19 World Cup squads in 2020 and 2022. He will join CSK at the price of Rs. 20 Lakh. (FILE)

CSK’s interest or Pathirana’s success doesn’t surprise the coach Fassy. “We have so many boys who are still trying to bowl like Malinga and it is not an easy action to replicate. With that sling arm action, it is very difficult to get accuracy and speed at the same time. Over the years we have seen some of them even picking up injuries while trying to replicate the action. But in Pathirana’s case, he was able to generate both the speed and accuracy, which meant, people were taking note of him wherever he played,” Fassy said.

Before he came to Trinity college, Sri Lanka’s legendary Chaminda Vaas was interested in the kid, and requested his father to send him to Colombo. But the father wasn’t too keen to send the young boy to far away Colombo, that’s when the offer from Trinity college landed, and he couldn’t refuse. His hometown is Harispathuwa, a quiet neighbourhood on the banks of Mahaweli River. The kid started to play cricket even before he went to nursery school, it’s said.

It’s a family that’s interested in music. Matheesha Pathirana plays the piano and sings and has completed grade six in the Royal College of Music examinations. The mother is a rhythm guitarist who played in bands, so did the father, and Matheesha’s eldest sister plays the piano and the second sister is a guitarist. These days, Matheesha prefers to play the dirge tune for the batsmen in the end overs.

Last year, Dhoni had nailed his strengths, thus: “He is an excellent death bowler. Also, with his action, it is slightly difficult to pick. He has got that slower one also. So you have to watch him very carefully. Which means when you spend those extra seconds watching the ball and he is bowling at a decent pace, it becomes quite difficult to consistently hit him.”

In the father’s telling, the release for the slower ball was further honed by Dwayne Bravo during Pathirana’s time at CSK, last year. Even during the off-season, Pathirana has been working on his variations with Dwayne Bravo — one of the finest exponents of slower deliveries — and CSK’s bowling coach Eric Simons. Although Pathirana’s arm speed is not as quick as that of Malinga, his release point is almost similar, which makes it difficult for batsmen to pick.

“People say he is bowling like Malinga, but I feel he is more in the mould of Jeff Thomson because of his arm speed. He has a long way to go and Sri Lanka Cricket has to groom him well and identify his strengths,” Fassy says.

“With his action, I don’t see him playing Test cricket because you have to handle him with care,” Fassy adds. “If Sri Lanka decides to use him as a white-ball specialist, then he can go on and have an impactful career like Malinga.”