Sri Lanka’s ‘Baby Malinga’ makes immediate impact on IPL debut

Wednesday, 18 May 2022 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Matheesha Pathirana’s bowling action and (right) congratulated by CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni after taking a wicket off his first ball in IPL

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Following closely in the footsteps of Sri Lanka’s leading white ball leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) is teenage fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana who made a dream debut for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their clash against table leaders Gujarat Titans at the famous Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

The Sri Lankan Under-19 World Cup star came onto bowl the seventh over and got a wicket off the very first ball he bowled for CSK in the IPL. The right-arm medium-pacer popular referred to as ‘Baby Malinga’ or ‘Junior Malinga’ because of his slinging bowling action that closely resembles that of former Sri Lanka and Mumbai Indians legend Lasith Malinga, trapped Titans opener Subman Gill lbw for 18 with a full delivery that completely foxed the batsman.

Pathirana followed with the wicket of Hardik Pandya with a slower delivery which the Titans skipper had no clue about and top-edged to mid-off to be dismissed for seven. Pathirana ended with figures of 2 for 24 off 3.1 overs. Titans who have already qualified for the play-offs won the contest by seven wickets despite Pathirana’s heroics.

CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni was all praise for the uncapped Pathirana saying that his slingy action will make it difficult for the batsmen to play and hit against.

“I think Pathirana is an excellent death bowler, a bit similar to Malinga. With his action, the margin of error for him is quite big. With his slingy action, he doesn’t get a lot of bounce. He has got that slower one as well,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.

Malinga tweeted: “Excellent start young man. Full and Straight. Looking forward to working with you when we’re back in SL. Meanwhile, keep practicing and improving yourself. Treat every single ball you bowl as a step towards success. You have a bright international and IPL career ahead of you.”

Pathirana in reply tweeted: “Thank you @ninety9sl sir. I look forward to seeing you and working with you in the near future. I need your support and guidance and confident you will be always there for me.”

In fact Pathirana was a replacement in the CSK squad for New Zealand speedster Adam Milne who was ruled out of the season with an injury. Born in Kandy and educated at Trinity College, Pathirana who represented Sri Lanka in the ICC U19 World Cup in West Indies earlier this year has yet to play first-class cricket.

Former IPL champions CSK are out of the play-offs race in the current tournament which has allowed the team management to draft in changes for the remaining matches.

Playing alongside young Pathirana in the CSK team is another Sri Lanka bowler Maheesh Theekshana who has taken 12 wickets from nine matches at an economy rate of 7.45.