Not many cricketers in the world have the knack of identifying talents and nurturing them like MS Dhoni does. The likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma all played under Dhoni’s leadership, but their journey to the pinnacle of cricket, by their own admission, might not have been possible without Dhoni. He backed Kohli after his initial struggles and also suggested Rohit to open the innings in order to utilise his abilities to the fullest. However, Kohli and Rohit aren’t the only ones reaping rewards of Dhoni’s cricketing accumen.
A lot of cricketers who have been under Dhoni’s wings have enjoyed success at both, international and franchise, levels. Sri Lanka pacer Matheesha Pathirana’s journey has been similar, yet so different.
Pathirana had a very little exposure of cricket, having been born into a family of musicians. However, his talent was identified by none other than Dhoni, who was impressed straightaway.
What followed next was an IPL contract from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who signed Pathirana as an uncapped overseas player for Rs 20 lakh, albeit a replacement for the injured Adam Milne.
Since then, Pathirana has been honing his skills under Dhoni’s watchful eyes, even reprsenting Sri Lanka 31 times so far.
In a video shared by CSK, Pathirana’s parents lifted the lid on Dhoni’s impact on their son’s career, who even considers the wicketkeeper as his father.
“No words for MS Dhoni. He is real God. How Matheesha respects his father. Like that, he respects Dhoni,” said Matheesha’s mother.
“In Sri Lanka, you are my father, in India it is MS Dhoni,” added his father.
“I treat MS Dhoni as my father figure because of what he has done for me in cricket. The support he has given me in cricket is very similar to what my father gave me at home,” said Matheesha.
In 2023, Pathirana had a breakthrough IPL season, playing 12 games and claiming 19 wickets. In 2024, he continued his impressive form, picking up 13 wickets in six games.
In total, Pathirana has played 22 matches for CSK, taking 39 wickets with an economy rate of 7.88 and a best bowling figure of 4/28.
Chennai Super Kings squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Vansh Bedi (wk), C Andre Siddharth, Rachin Ravindra, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Anshul Kamboj, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Matheesha Pathirana.
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