16 April 2024 07:28 pm
By Harsha Amarasinghe
The right arm quick ended up taking four wickets for 28 runs keeping CSK in the third spot of the points, very much in the running for play-offs.
Pathirana has so far played three games in the IPL 2024 capturing eight wickets and the 21-year-old seems to be flourishing in Chennai colours.
The former Trinity College speedster has done fairly reasonable job when representing the country. However, in certain games he was well below par.
One would wonder how has CSK been able to get the best out of Pathirana far more regularly.
It must be stated that CSK found Pathirana before the national selectors even considered him for Sri Lanka. Chennai probably have a better scouting system through which they had identified Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana.
Pathirana made his Sri Lanka debut after he had a stellar campaign for CSK.
On the other hand, CSK seems to manage their players very well. Pathirana, following his match-winning display claimed that he didn't play the two previous games due "a niggle.'
It is still early stages of the season and hence every single game is crucial, but CSK didn't want to take a chance with Pathirana. Though he didn't play two games, he came back and produced an outstanding performance. However, when he was representing Sri Lanka earlier this year, he probably played too many games when he wasn't fully fit, and hence his performances weren't as consistent as he would have wanted.
Last year MS Dhoni made it very clear that a bowler like Pathirana should be well looked after. In fact he said, Pathirana should stay away from fifty over game, but he was drafted into the World Cup squad out of the blue, and once again his performances were not great.
In MS Dhoni, Matheesha Pathirana found a father figure in Chennai - someone that everyone respects and listens to. He said after the game that he was 'a bit nervous' seeing how Mumbai Indians were thrashing his fellow fast bowlers during the power, but according to Pathirana he could overcome that after Dhoni calmed him down before his spell. He probably doesn't have that in Kusal Mendis or Wanindu Hasaranga.
Pathirana has clearly shown in this IPL that he can consistently bowl at high 140s and deliver those brilliant yorkers. Sri Lanka needs to manage him properly in order to get the best out of what seems to be a once-in-a-generation talent.