Matheesha Pathirana IPL Profile

Born on Dec 18, 2002, Matheesha Pathirana is the latest pace sensation to come out of Sri Lankan cricket. Popularly known as 'Baby Malinga' for his sling bowling action, the young right-handed pacer from Kandy represents Chennai Super Kings in Indian Premier League.

His initial cricketing tenure started at Trinity College, Kandy where he used to take wickets regularly. A specialist of death overs with toe-breaking yorkers under his sleeve, Pathirana did not have to wait much longer in lower before getting a call in the U-19 Sri Lankan set-up.

He first came to the limelight during the Under-19 World Cup in 2020. He came up with a wide delivery to Yashasvi Jaiswal in the fourth over of the tournament's match against India at 175kph (108 mph), making it the fastest ball ever recorded in international cricket at all levels. Although, it was later informed that the figure was misquoted due to a glitch in the system. 

Pathirana's inclusion in the Chennai Super Kings squad is also fascinating. The skipper of the Chennai-based franchise, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, apparently noticed the youngster's prospect through a viral video on social media. Dhoni instantly saw the potential and reached out to try having him in the IPL reserves in 2020. Although the Sri Lanka Cricket Board did not issue a NOC during the pandemic.

Pathirana, however, got a shot in the IPL finally in 2022. At the IPL auction in 2022, he had registered himself but had no takers. Luckily for him, Adam Milne hurt himself shortly after making his IPL debut for CSK, and the Yellow Army was able to replace him with Pathirana. He experienced a dream debut in the tournament eliminating Shubman Gill with the opening ball becoming the ninth player overall and the first Sri Lankan to accomplish the feat in IPL history.

On the back of his impressive rise, Pathirana got his international call-up in 2022. He was in the T20I squad against Australia however later ruled out due to an injury. He finally made his debut against Afghanistan in the same year. He made his ODI debut in 2023 against New Zealand.