‘It was a difficult time’ – Pathirana is back and making an impact

If there is one positive person sri lankalost to England in First generation T20Iit was how well their bowlers held off England’s batsmen on a batsman-friendly surface. especially Matisha Pathirana.

The 23-year-old slinger Pathirana had figures of 1 for 18 in his four overs, which could have been two had Pathum Nissanka not taken a chance in the deep, but his impact was immense, as evidenced by ESPNcricinfo’s MVP index, falling just short of Adil Rashid, who smashed Sri Lankan batsmen with 3 for 19.

The target of 134 in 17 overs (later revised to 115 in 15 overs) proved too low to defend, but the margin of defeat of 11 runs by DLS was not as wide as one might have expected given the nature of the pitch.

On a good batting surface, the seamers especially struggled – Sam Curran and Eshan Malinga Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton both had seven overs. However, Pathirana fared well with an economic rate of 4.5.

He bowled the entire repertoire, from quick yorkers (his fastest speed was 148 kmph and hovered in the mid-140 kmph range) to off-the-pace length deliveries and spicy shorts. What was even more impressive was the fact that he bowled two overs inside in the powerplay. Pathirana is known for his exploits in the death overs, but his fielding total was below average here and Sri Lanka asked their strike bowlers to take up the new ball.

“We have been practicing bowling in the power play, but we had no plans to bowl there today,” Pathirana said after the match. “It just so happened that the score was lower than I expected, so I ended up bowling in the power play.”

Pathirana’s control was impressive. Wides have been a problem in the past – often the price of sneaky action like his – but on Friday night there were just three wides under his spell.

“The past year, year and a half has been a tough time with injuries,” he said. “I lost my rhythm. I’ve been working hard to get back to this level and recently Mari Aiya [Lasith Malinga] It helped me here in Sri Lanka and all the coaches at SLC, not just one, they all helped me get to this point. ”

The influence of fellow slinger Malinga cannot be understated. Maringa has long been an advocate of goal-based training drills and hours of repetitive practice. And recently, he has been working as Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach in preparation for the T20 World Cup.

“To be honest, I didn’t do much. I just did simple, basic things,” Pathirana said. “The main thing was increasing the number of practices. If there was an improvement, that’s why. As far as practice, we increased it a lot.”

For Pathirana, this is a sudden change in fortunes. Pathirana only played two T20Is for Sri Lanka in 2025 due to a combination of poor form and injury. Released by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) He was then roped in by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but it was more of an educated punt than one based on hard stats.

Among the criticisms leveled at Pathirana during this period was that his release point was not as low as it used to be. In fact, CSK coach Stephen Fleming pointed out this very fact when he talked about the decline of quick bowlers in IPL 2025.

On Friday, Pathirana’s release point was lower than it has been in recent days, but still not as low as it was in his breakout season. He explained that the changes in his behavior were largely involuntary, to the point that he was nursing a fairly serious shoulder injury.

When asked if the release point had changed, he said, “Yes.” “I was recently playing with a pretty major shoulder injury, so I think my body just automatically changed my release point. I still rehab between games, and I think that’s why I’m seeing improvement. I see my release point getting closer to what it was before.”

A fit and ready-to-play Pathirana will be crucial for Sri Lanka, with Dushmanta Chameera waiting in the wings and Eshan Malinga also in good form, picking up two wickets with some clever variations on Friday, Sri Lanka’s seam unit looks pretty fit, at least for the World Cup.

Latest Update