Who is Matheesha Pathirana? IPL Price, Bowling Speed, Stats -- All You Need To Know About 'Junior Malinga'

Mumbai, April 21: Matheesha Pathirana joined Chennai Super Kings as a replacement of Adam Milne on Thursday (April 21). So, what is the fuss all about? Who is Matheesha Pathirana?

Let’s have a quick profile of Pathirana, the latest recruit of CSK in the IPL 2022.

Age: 19

Country: Sri Lanka

IPL price: Rs 20 lakh, his base price

IPL team: Chennai Super Kings

Bowling style: Right-arm fast medium

So that’s the basic info for you about this young Lankan, who will be the second Sri Lanka player in CSK line-up after mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana.

Pathirana is in the news for his Lasith Malinga-like action and has been impressive for Sri Lanka under-19 in the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2022 earlier this year, taking 7 wickets from 4 matches at an average of 27.28 and his economy stood at 6.16.

Just like Malinga, the second highest wicket-taker in the IPL with 170 wickets, Pathirana too can serve up fast, toe-crushing Yorkers.

As of now Pathirana has played only 1 List A game and 2 T20s in Sri Lanka but that was enough for CSK to tap in to this exciting new talent from the Islands.

A replacement for Malinga for SL?

Malinga had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last year September and Pathirana could well be a replacement for the legend at one stage.

Malinga was one of the greatest T20 bowlers, and the 38-year-old was the captain of Sri Lanka's 2014 T20 World Cup winning team.

“Hanging up my T20 shoes and retiring from all forms of cricket! Thankful to all those who supported me in my journey, and looking forward to sharing my experience with young cricketers in the years to come,” Malinga tweeted.

“I want to give 100 per cent rest to my T20 bowling shoes. While my shoes will rest, my love for the game will never ask for rest,” Malinga added in his retirement message. The pacer had taken 546 wickets for Sri Lanka across the three formats of the game.