Sri Lanka legend Lasith Malinga praised Chennai Super Kings' death-overs specialist Matheesha Pathirana and said that he wants the CSK pacer to be better than him at bowling after seeing his performance in IPL 2023.
The young man Pathirana is a budding star, and it has been nothing less than wonderful to see him win over cricket fans all around the world. The youthful pacer has frequently been compared to Lasith Malinga, one of Sri Lanka's all-time finest bowlers, thanks to him having the same slingy action as the legend.
Pathirana has picked 15 wickets in 10 matches for CSK, with an economy rate of 7.56, having bowled mostly at the death.
"I somehow want to make this guy even better than me. I think in the next Test tour, try to get him involved, and give him some ODIs as well. See how he plays in the next three years, and then see what the future course needs to be. If he plays 10 or 15 Tests in the next three years, that will be invaluable to his development," Malinga told ESPNCricinfo.
Pathirana has been terrorizing batters in IPL 2023, often producing a pace of up to almost 140 clicks, and on rare occasions, he will attempt to produce a yorker at 145 clicks as well. This reminds fans of Lasith Malinga who is now a bowling consultant with Rajasthan Royals (RR).
"As an example: you know, I only learned that you can dip and reverse the ball at the same time in the last Test that I played, in 2010. Usually, they bowl me from the Fort End at Galle, and it's really easy to reverse the ball from that end with the wind coming across the ground. After six years, I finally got a good spell from the Pavilion End, and I learned how to dip and reverse a cricket ball. No one can tell when Matheesha will get those important revelations about his game," Malinga added.
"We're talking about protecting him from playing for Sri Lanka before he's even properly played for Sri Lanka. He's only 20 years old," he said.
Pathirana will be in action when CSK takes on Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2023 Qualifier 1 on May 23.
(ANI inputs)
