MSD-groomed CSK pacer Pathirana shines in SL vs BAN Asia Cup 2023 clash
Express pacer Matheesha Pathirana was simply at her best as she took four wickets against Bangladesh in his first match of the tournament on August 31. Bowling first at Pallekele, Pathirana was introduced after the pitch restrictions and showed results immediately after dismissing Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan. He went on to scalp the wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman.
Pathirana made his national debut after his exploits in IPL 2023
It may be noted that Pathirana was part of Chennai Super Kings in the last concluded edition of IPL. Under MS’s leadership, the Yellow Army won its record fifth title in the cash-rich league. The right-arm pacer was deadly in the death overs while he was playing for the five-time champions. Soon after, he was called up to the Sri Lankan team. Earlier, Pathirana credited Dhoni for his success in the white-ball format and said that he played a crucial role in his success.
“When you are young, if someone gives you that confidence, it boosts your career.
A player of that level showed faith in me and I believed that he could do anything at that time.” Pathirana said. Talking about the things he learned from the former World Cup-winning Indian captain, Pathirana said, “I learned a lot from Dhoni. The first thing is humility and that is why he is very successful. He is 42 years old and still the fittest cricketer, which is really inspiring.
As mentioned above, Pathirana broke the bone of the Bangladeshi batting lineup by posting a career best 4/32. Talking about his overall numbers in the 50-over format, the 20-year-old has played five matches and scalped eight wickets so far.
However, his economy is at a higher level with 6.03. “Last time I played ODIs in Qualifiers. He took some experience and came here.
Wicket was pretty dead in the first half. That’s why I tried slower balls and other things.
It’s very difficult to adjust to ODIs so soon after T20s. But I’ll make it,” Pathirana said at the half-inning break.
