‘Matheesha Pathirana Could Be Better Than Lasith Malinga’: Scott Styris Drops Bombshell Comment On CSK Pacer
New Delhi: Chennai Super Kings are having a decent run in IPL 2023. The team has played 10 games, winning five and losing four. Their previous game against Lucknow Super Giants was abandoned due to rain. CSK were in a strong position and had the match gone ahead, they might well have pulled off a win. Nevertheless, the team is sitting comfortably at the third position and are a strong contender to reach the play-off.
CSK’s success has largely been the result of some fine batting by Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube and a sizzling display of spinners on the damp wickets of Chennai. CSK’s new ball attack though has been a cause of concern. Tushar Deshpande has picked up a few wickets but has leaked far too many runs. CSK though has done well at death with Matheesha Pathirana controlling things in the final overs. Pathirana draws a resemblance to Sri Lanka veteran Lasith Malinga. His pinpoint yorkers revive the memories of peak Malinga.
Matheesha Pathirana Could Be Better Than Lasith Malinga: Scott Styris
Former New Zealand cricketer Scott Styris is mighty impressed with Pathirana and feels he could be better than Lasith Malinga. “I think Pathirana could be better than Malinga. I accept that it’s a massive call because he’s too early in his career. He’s not as accurate as Malinga yet, but Malinga was at his best when he was bowling at 145kph. And he only had about 3 or 4 years where that was the case. When he had that speed, and then the change-ups came, you had to respect that pace. When his top speed was down to 135, you could probably look at the slower ball more and react to the yorkers,” Styris said on JioCinema.
“What we’ve seen with Pathirana is that he’s bowling at 145, 146, 148kph, so he has that natural advantage. He hits the yorkers pretty well. As he naturally evolves and gets more experience, he can hit those yorkers with that action as much as Malinga, but with a quicker speed and the ability for change-ups. He’s the exciting talent for Sri Lanka and exciting talent for CSK,” he further added.
Meanwhile, CSK received a massive boost in the last game against LSG as Deepak Chahar returned to the side. Chahar with the new ball, spinners in the middle and Pathirana at death makes CSK bowling looks even more daunting.