da aviator aposta： The two young Sri Lankans with unique skill sets are bowling the difficult overs and it is working for Chennai Super Kings
da bwin： Deivarayan Muthu22-Apr-20232:19
Fleming: ‘Theekshana is very subtle with his skill’
The biggest question facing Chennai Super Kings after Dwayne Bravo’s IPL retirement and the auction that followed was: who will bowl the tough overs? Tushar Deshpande did a good job in the early exchanges of the tournament – he still bowls at the death for them – but there was still something missing in their bowling attack. They’ve now somewhat filled that void with two young Sri Lankans with unique skill sets.Maheesh Theekshana is only 22 but his mystery spin – and carrom ball in particular – is already in high demand in T20 (and T10) – leagues around the world. Matheesha Pathirana is two years younger than Theekshana and is known as ” (Little) Malinga” in the Sri Lankan cricket circles because of his slingy action that resembles that of the Sri Lankan stalwart.
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On Friday against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chepauk, Ravindra Jadeja came away with 3 for 22 in his four overs in the middle, but it was Theekshana and Pathirana who bowled the difficult overs to straightjacket Sunrisers.Related
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Sunrisers had no way out. They had no idea which way Theekshana was turning the ball. They had no idea about the release points of Pathirana. Bravo, who is now Super Kings’ bowling coach, was proudly watching all of this from the dugout.MS Dhoni had introduced Theekshana into the attack in the last over of the powerplay, where batters generally throw their bats at the ball without a care in the world. Theekshana produced a chance third ball with a fast offbreak, but Abhishek Sharma managed to slice it over point. Abhishek manufactured a boundary last ball by backing away but, despite that, Theekshana gave up only ten runs off that over.Then, when Theekshana returned to the attack, Sunrisers were 86 for 3 in 12 overs. Heinrich Klaasen, who is arguably the best T20 spin-hitter from South Africa, and Aiden Markram, who is one of the most-improved players of spin, were looking to repair their innings. Dhoni brought back Theekshana who responded with a fizzing carrom ball to dismiss Markram. Theekshana doesn’t get big turn with his carrom ball like R Ashwin does, but he hits the pitch harder and gets big bounce. The ball grazed the outside edge near the shoulder of the bat and Dhoni snagged it almost in front of his chest.It was the carrom ball that had also tricked Glenn Maxwell at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. Theekshana also has the reverse carrom ball in his repertoire – the variation that swerves into a right-hander as opposed to breaking away. That’s just as hard to pick. Ask Finn Allen.Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana have been MS Dhoni’s go-to bowlers under pressure•BCCISuper Kings’ head coach Stephen Fleming, who has also worked with Theekshana at Jo’burg Super Kings in the SA20, delivered him a glowing appraisal at his post-match press conference on Friday.”He’s very skillful. He’s very subtle with his skills, so he’s always coming at a player,” Fleming said. “So you can’t really get into a rhythm as a hitter and his deception is his changes of pace. And I think that that just makes them check themselves at times and even today, he was a little bit faster [and got] a bit more bounce. So there are some subtle changes in each delivery that can just keep players on their toes and look, he did very well to get that wicket [of Markram]. Also a good catch by Dhoni.”He [Theekshana] is also working into a bit of form. He has been bowling well, but in his first couple of outings [this season], he’s trying to find his pace at different grounds. And trying to get us pace on this ground, more importantly, which we really wanted to own and dominate. So it was a good day for him and some good learning for us.”
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Almost everything about Pathirana’s bowling is hard to pick. The side-arm action. The arm speed. The point of release. The rapid yorker. The slower dipper.Devon Conway doesn’t face him in the nets. Ambati Rayudu had struggled to keep out his inswinging yorkers at training, two days out of the match against Sunrisers. Before that, Royal Challengers Bangalore had struggled to keep out his yorkers as he nervelessly helped Super Kings defend 18 off the final over in a game where an IPL-record-equalling 33 sixes were hit.
Impressive stuff Matheesha
Loved the way you handled the pressure at the death.
Excellent execution@matheesha_9 #RCBvCSK #IPL2023— Lasith Malinga (@malinga_ninety9) April 17, 2023