Sports
Malinga on Pathirana: ‘I somehow want to make this guy even better than me’
Lasith Malinga, now a bowling consultant with Rajasthan Royals, has been watching Chennai Super Kings’ games with particular interest. Matheesha Pathirana, CSK’s death-overs specialist, not only bowls with the same, unusual round-arm action with which Malinga dominated the IPL for many years, but is also in a sense a protege. Over the last three years, Malinga has worked sporadically with Pathirana in Sri Lanka’s high performance centre, and has advised him on what he needs to do to build a career.
In this interview with ESPNcricinfo, Malinga shares his insights on the 20-year-old’s technique and progress. And he couldn’t disagree more vehemently with MS Dhoni’s suggestion that Pathirana “shouldn’t even get close” to red-ball cricket.
When did you first hear about Matheesha?
I found out about Matheesha Pathirana after the Under-19 World Cup [in 2020], when I got a call from Mahela Jayawardene, who was working as a consultant with SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket). He said: ‘Mali, there’s a boy from Kandy, who bowls just like you, and he bowls fast. But it’s hard to play him in a match because he bowls two sides of the wicket and doesn’t have the control. Can you do something with him?’
So he sent Matheesha to me, and we met at Khettarama. He didn’t have a lot of experience. But I knew straight away that he’s a fearless and strong cricketer. That’s really important. I started off very simply with him, and I told him this: ‘Don’t think about picking formats yet. You have to play whatever Sri Lanka needs you to play. If you get injured and then have to pick formats, that’s a different thing. But you’ve been bowling with this action since you were little and you haven’t had problems. So I don’t think it’ll be that difficult for you.’
You know this action better than anyone. What did you think about the way he was bowling?
In terms of skill, I told him he needs to learn how to bowl with the new and old ball, not just one. With this kind of action, you need the same skillset for Tests, ODIs, and T20s. It’s just that the way you use different skills varies for each format. He doesn’t really swing the ball, because his wrist is too straight as the arm comes around. I told him he has to raise that wrist about an inch-and-a-half. That’ll take him about two or three years, because he has bowled the way he’s bowling for 19 years.
For now, he can manage with what he has. He can bowl good yorkers, but he didn’t have a lot of consistency. I told him how to bowl the slower one as well. Because he bowls with my action, it’s easy for him to dip his slower balls. So I told him: ‘Let’s work on the dipping slower one.’ Now he bowls it pretty well. Still, he needs a bit more control, but it’s in a good place.
What do you think of his success this season? (Pathirana has 15 wickets from 10 matches for CSK, with an economy rate of 7.56, having bowled mostly at the death.)
He’s bowling well in the IPL, but he needs to improve a bit to be ready for international cricket. You don’t get to play 12 players in internationals, like you can in the IPL this year. They use him as a death bowler only at CSK. But if you play for the national team you’re definitely going to have to bowl some powerplay overs. That’s where he needs the swing, which he doesn’t have right now.
It goes back to his wrist position. The advantage of that wrist position is that you get good dip, and you can swing balls into the ground. But you won’t swing balls from side to side. You won’t get it to tail into the batter’s legs. He needs to start creating that angle with the seam, where it comes out diagonally, rather than horizontally. If he fixes that, he can do some great things.
He needs bowling intelligence too, because after a few matches the opposition will work out who you are, and you need to learn how to survive from that point onwards. I think the best thing for that is playing 10 Tests. That’s how you build your bowling fitness. I’ve played 30 Tests, and that was vital to me building up bowling fitness for ODIs and T20s, because when you’re bowling 25-30 overs an innings, you have to sustain your skill through all those spells.
CSK have asked him to do one job, and do it well…
He got a great opportunity because of the Impact Player rule. He can start bowling in the 12th or 13th over. So the weakness he has – bowling with the new ball – gets minimised. He’s also bowling when batters really have to take him on. When you bowl with this action, batters have trouble picking up the ball. And with the control he has for now, and because he’s mentally strong, he’s been able to do well. He’s also got a good captain who will set good fields for him.
His yorker is 145kph and is fantastic. But he needs more control. If he bowls five yorkers, he’ll only land two correctly. But I’m sure if he keeps working on it as he is, he’ll nail it in about a year or two.
You used to reverse-swing the ball into the ground, because of the way the ball came out of your hand. Is that how Pathirana is dipping it too?
Actually, he’s got an advantage over me there, because his arm comes even lower than mine. It’s really tough to hit a six off him, especially off the front foot. That’s his natural advantage. Especially in the subcontinent – and when there’s low bounce in the track – he’ll be really effective.
What have you thought of the way MS Dhoni captains him?
MS has figured out that he can’t bowl with the new ball yet. He also uses him against local Indian batters at the crease – players who don’t play international cricket. With the 145kph pace, and his action, it’s hard for them to play him. That’s just MS’ 20 years of experience at work. He also gets him to lower his pace against batters who are purely power players. Against batters who use the pace – like a Rohit Sharma, or a Mahela Jayawardene, or a Virat Kohli – those players Matheesha might struggle against for now.
Dhoni has said Matheesha shouldn’t play Test cricket, but it sounds like you seriously disagree with Dhoni on that.
MS Dhoni is saying he should just play ICC tournaments. I wonder if he’s just saying that for fun (laughs). It’s hard to do that when you’re playing for the national team.
I think anyone who tells him not to play red-ball cricket is doing that because they think he will get injured. I played red-ball cricket first. No one said anything like that to me. I played red-ball cricket between 2004 to 2010, but I had a 16-year international career, and I played a lot of IPL, plus Big Bash and all the other leagues. In all that time I never left the field after injuring a hamstring, or a groin, or my back, or my calf. Maybe a lot of people will oppose me, but I don’t think we should just presume that he will get injured. I’ve played cricket this way and bowled like him, so I know what the challenges are.
But you did have major ankle and knee injuries…
You can get bone injuries, but that is down to the effort you put in every ball. But I would tell him: get your Test cap. Maybe you’ll play just one. Maybe you’ll play 10. Maybe you will play 100 – who knows? When he plays 15-20 Tests, he will develop not just his bowling fitness and his skill, but also figure out how to set batters up for dismissals, and how to put a spell together. That’s not something you can just tell him about. He has to do it to understand it properly. If when he starts playing Tests, his body starts reacting badly, then you can reassess.
How should he be developed over the next little while?
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.
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.
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.
(cricinfo)
Sports
New Zealand breeze past Sri Lanka despite Theekshana hat-trick
New Zealand strode to 255 for 9 in their 37 overs, with a 112-run second wicket stand between Rachin Ravindra and Mark Chapman the bedrock of that innings. And then Sri Lanka’s top order crashed and burned again. They were 4 for 22 inside the first five overs, their hopes of levelling the series almost completely dashed.
Kamindu Mendis attempted to revive the innings, but his 64 was not nearly enough to revive this innings. Sri Lanka slipped to a 113-run defeat, having also lost heavily to New Zealand in the first ODI. New Zealand take the series despite being significantly depleted by absences and injuries. Sri Lanka are essentially at full strength, but the failure of their top five continues to dog them, even in a rain-reduced match such as this.
New Zealand had some stutters too. They were modest at the death, as Maheesh Theekshana in particular was effective, taking a hat-trick across his last two overs, as New Zealand mustered no more than 63 in the last 10 overs, losing five wickets in that period. But they did not stumble so spectacularly as to undo the work of the Ravindra-Chapman stand. They had contributions through the middle, with Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, and Mitchell Santner chipping in.
And then they had their confident seam bowlers, who imposed themselves even with the older ball. Will O’Rourke took 3 for 31, Jacob Duffy 2 for 30, while Matt Henry and Nathan Smith claimed a wicket apiece. The only semblance of a partnership had been between Kamindu and Janith Liyanage, as the pair put on 57 together for the fifth wicket. Outside of that, New Zealand were picking their way through the batting order, and ultimately had them all out inside 31 overs.
Sri Lanka’s required rate was 6.92 right from the beginning. Although this seems a monumental challenge, the pitch was good to bat on, and with rain having delayed the start of play by two-and-a-half hours, a damp ball was also proving a challenge for some bowlers. But Sri Lanka needed a strong start to put some wind in the sails of this chase, and what they got instead was a collapse.
Pathum Nissanka holed out to mid-off in the second over, badly miscuing a lofted drive against Duffy. Kusal Mendis then edged behind in Duffy’s next over, before Avishka Fernando slapped a ball from Henry straight to point immediately after. Captain Charith Asalanka’s horrendous judging of a run extended Sri Lanka’s nosedive. He’d blocked one towards Mitchell Santner at mid-off and called his partner through. Santner swooped in the ball, hit the stumps with an under-arm throw, and caught Asalanka metres short. Kamindu had been out in very similar fashion, taking on the same fielder, only on Sunday.
At Asalanka’s dismissal, Sri Lanka still had 234 runs to get off 194 deliveries, and only two specialist batters and two allrounders left to do it with. They didn’t get especially far.
Contrast this to New Zealand’s top order, who put their team in a powerful position inside the first 22 overs, with Ravindra stroking 79 off 63 and Chapman hitting 62 off 52.
What was most impressive about their stand was how comfortable both batters made brisk run-scoring appear. Ravindra was strong through the offside as usual, but found plenty of runs to leg, using the sweep and the pick-up shot off the pads to especially good effect.
Chapman meanwhile, was decidedly stronger on the legside, scoring 46 off his 63 runs in that direction. He hit two sixes – one top edged over the keeper, and another over midwicket off a short ball from Eshan Malinga to bring up his fifty off 44 balls as well as the century partnership. Ravindra had also got to his half-century with a six – down the ground off Hasaranga. He took 43 balls to get there.
Earlier, Asitha Fernando had bowled Will Young with an outstanding jagging delivery, but neither Ravindra or Chapman were tested for long by Sri Lanka’s seamers. In fact, it was the spinners that introduced even a little discomfort – between them, Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga took six wickets.
Sri Lanka fielded well, and induced errors at a greater rate in the back half of the innings. Asalanka pulled off an excellent diving catch at short cover to get rid of Ravindra, and Theekshana’s hat-trick featured some tumbling catches in the deep from Chamindu Wickramasinghe and Kamindu.
But even in the field, New Zealand outdid them. Their ground fielding was spectacular again, and the catch of the day belonged to Nathan Smith, who bounded along the deep-third boundary, threw himself off his feet and got his outstretched right arm to a ball that might otherwise have landed over the boundary to dismiss Malinga.
Brief scores:
New Zealand
255 for 9 in 37 overs (Rachin Ravindra 79, Mark Chapman 62, Daryl Mitchell 38, Mitchell Santner 20; Maheesh Theekshana 4-44, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-39) beat Sri Lanka 142 in 30.2 overs (Kamindu Mendis 64, Janith Liyanage 22; Will O’Rouke 3-31, Jacob Duffu 2-30) by 113 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sports
St. Thomas’ record ‘historic victory’ against Ananda
by Reemus Fernando
St. Thomas’ College, Matara achieved a ‘historic first’ as they beat Ananda College, Colombo by five wickets to retain their top position in the points table in the Under 19 Division I tier ‘B’ tournament yesterday.
St. Thomas’ are not a traditional rival of the schools cricket powerhouse of Colombo. Despite playing cricket for more than hundred years, they only meet Ananda in tournament matches. According to officials of St. Thomas’ it is the first time they have beaten the Anandians. The home team achieved the feat well before lunch on the final day as the tournament’s highest run scorer Pesandu Sanjan scored an unbeaten 23 runs to seal the five wickets win in the low scoring affair. Sanjan led from the front in the bowling attack as well taking six wickets in the second innings to bundle out Ananda for 49 runs. It is the third outright victory of the tournament for the team captained by Sajan.
At Galle, Mahinda beat St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya by an innings and 46 runs as Senuka Dangamuwa rattled the visitors for 72 runs with a five wicket haul in the second innings. Mahinda are the second placed team in the points table behind St. Thomas’.
Results
St. Thomas’ beat Ananda by five wickets at Uyanwatta
Scores
Ananda
95 all out 44.2 overs (Kenul de Zoysa 26, Lithma Perera 22; Vihanga Sankalana 2/14, Pesandu Sanjan 3/14, Manuga Guruge 3/26) and 49 all out in 20 overs (Pesandu Sanjan 6/22, Manuga Guruge 4/19)
St. Thomas’ Matara
85 all out in 25.2 overs (Manuga Guruge 18; Ashinsa Nainayaka 2/21, Kaveesha Mendis 2/04, Dasith Batugahage 4/30) and 64 for 5 in 18.2 overs (Kumesh Nawanjana 17n.o., Pesandu Sanjan 23n.o.; Sharada Jayaratne 4/31)
Mahinda beat St. Sebastian’s Katuneriya by an innings and 46 runs at Galle
Scores
St. Sebastian’s
83 all out in 32.3 overs and 72 all out in 38.1 overs (Arosha Udayanga 3/26, Senuka Dangamuwa 5/38, Kaveen Rukshan 2/04)
Mahinda
201 all out in 52.4 overs (Dulsith Dharshana 106, Sehas Ashinsa 22, Arosha Udayanga 25; Maheesha Sithum 3/73, Vihanga Theekshana 3/26, Damsith Subashana 2/44)
Latest News
Boland, Bumrah, Bavuma and Babar make gains in ICC rankings
Scott Boland has entered the top ten of the ICC’s Test bowling rankings for the first time after taking 21 wickets in three Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests.
Averaging 13.19 in the series, Boland broke into the top ten after a match haul of 10 for 86 at the SCG, which sealed the series 3-1 in Australia’s favour and earned him a Player-of-the-Match award. He has moved up to joint-ninth after climbing 29 positions.
Jasprit Bumrah, who topped the wicket-takers’ chart at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 32 wickets at 13.06, remains the No. 1 Test bowler, adding one rating point and going up to 908, improving on the record for Indian bowlers.
Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada have moved up to No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, while Josh Hazlewood has fallen just out of the top three. Marco Jansen rounds up the top five for Test bowlers.
South Africa’s big batting performance in the second Test against Pakistan, where they scored 615 in the first innings, has seen their key batters move up the Test batting charts.
Temba Bavuma’s 106 has taken him three places up to a career-best No. 6 Ryan Rickelton’s 259 has lifted him 48 positions to 55th, while Kyle Yerrevnne’s 100 has seen him move up four spots to No. 24.
For Pakistan, Babar Azam (No. 12) inched closer to the top ten after scores of 58 and 81.
Rishabh Pant meanwhile, has regained his place in the top ten among Test batters, after hitting 40 and 61 in India’s defeat in Sydney. He moved up three places to No. 9 while his team-mate Yashasvi Jaiswal remained at No. 3 behind world No. 1 Joe Root and second-placed Harry Brook.
[Cricinfo]
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