Few world cricket players have the talent of identifying talents and feeding them like Ms. Dhoni. The tastes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma all played under the direction of Dhoni, but their trip to the top of the cricket, by their own admission, might not have been possible without Dhoni. He supported Kohli after his initial difficulties and also suggested to Rohit to open the sleeves in order to fully use his capacities. However, Kohli and Rohit are not the only ones to harvest the rewards of Dhoni’s cricket accumulation.
Many cricket players who have been under the wings of Dhoni have experienced both international and franchised levels. The course of Sri Lanka Paceer Matheesha Pathirana was similar, but so different.
Pathirana had a very small cricket exhibition, born into a family of musicians. However, his talent was identified by none other than Dhoni, who was immediately impressed.
What followed was an IPL contract of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which signed Pathirana as a player abroad not capped for RS 20 Lakh, although a replacement for Adam Milne injured.
Since then, Pathirana has perfected her skills under the vigilant eyes of Dhoni, even representing Sri Lanka 31 times so far.
In a video shared by CSK, the parents of Pathirana raised the cover on the impact of Dhoni on the career of their son, who even considers the goalkeeper like his father.
“No words for Mrs. Dhoni. He is the 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’s Ms. Dhoni,” added her father.
“I treat Ms. Dhoni as my paternal figure because of what he did for me in the cricket. The support he gave me in the cricket is very similar to what my father gave me home,” said Matheesha.
In 2023, Pathirana had an IPL season pierced, playing 12 games and claiming 19 counters. In 2024, he continued his impressive form, picking up 13 counters in six games.
In total, Pathirana has played 22 games for CSK, taking 39 counters with an economic rate of 7.88 and better 4/28 bowlingual figure.
Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Ms Dhoni (WK), Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Shaik Rasheed, Vansh Bedi (WK), C Andre Siddharth, Sam Curran Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Ravira Jadeja, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Matheesha Pathirana.
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