Matheesha Pathirana, known for his unique slingy bowling action, has faced a dip in form in the current IPL season. While he impressed many with his control last season, the same consistency has not been visible this year. Chennai Super Kings’ bowling coach, Eric Simons, has come to his defence, explaining that the batters have started adapting to his style.
Matheesha Pathirana has picked up nine wickets in eight matches, but his average of 33.11 and economy rate of 10.39 reflect his struggles. He has also bowled several wides, which has hurt the team in crucial moments. Simons noted that the reason behind the dip might be linked to a change in his action earlier in the season.
“It’s been quite well documented that there was a bit of an action change. But he’s pretty much back to where he was and just in terms of the height of his arm on a reasonably consistent basis,” Simons said.
Changing Tactics and Evolving Skills
According to Eric Simons, Pathirana is not necessarily less accurate than before, but the batters have figured out how to face him more confidently.
“I’m not sure that he’s less accurate. Batters are playing him a lot better. We can certainly see a trend in the way that batters are playing against him, particularly against Mumbai the other day. The technique that they’re using, they understand what his plans are and what he does,” he explained.
This shift in how batters approach him indicates the need for Pathirana to evolve his bowling strategy.
“So the evolution, might just be what’s next for him tactically as to what he needs to do to keep evolving. Batters need to keep evolving, bowlers need to keep evolving,” Simons added. He acknowledged that while Pathirana’s lines were good and he aimed for fuller lengths, batters were treating him differently this season.
Team Tactics and Key Moments
Simons believes that for CSK to improve, they must become smarter tactically during key phases of the game.
“I think as a team, throughout batting and bowling, there are little areas we want to try and find to be more accurate around what we want to do. But as a unit, the guys have pretty much played their job,” he said.
Winning the crucial overs is what can shift the momentum.
“It’s about winning those big overs. Every now and then you’re sitting up there and going, if we have a really tight over here, the game changes. Sometimes you get away in the last ball or the second-last ball and not understanding sometimes how to come out of an over. I think tactically smarter in key moments is probably some of the growth areas that we need to always work on.”
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