'I want to make this guy even better than me'- Lasith Malinga on Matheesha Pathirana

Lasith Malinga played 30 Tests, 226 ODIs and 84 T20Is for Sri Lanka, picking 101, 338 and 107 wickets respectively.

Sri Lankan pace legend Lasith Malinga lauded young fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana who has been lighting the IPL 2023 on fire for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). CSK's death-overs specialist, not only bowls with the same, unusual round-arm action with which Malinga dominated the IPL for many years but is also in a sense a protege.

Over the last three years, Malinga has worked sporadically with Pathirana in Sri Lanka's high-performance center and has advised him on what he needs to do to build a career.

 In an interview with ESPNCricinfo, Malinga shares his insights on the 20-year-old's technique and progress. And he couldn't disagree more vehemently with MS Dhoni's suggestion that Pathirana "shouldn't even get close" to red-ball cricket.

“I found out about Matheesha Pathirana after the Under-19 World Cup [in 2020], when I got a call from Mahela Jayawardene, who was working as a consultant with SLC (Sri Lanka Cricket).

He said: 'Mali, there's a boy from Kandy, who bowls just like you, and he bowls fast. But it's hard to play him in a match because he bowls two sides of the wicket and doesn't have control. Can you do something with him?'” Malinga told ESPNCricinfo.

“I knew straight away that he's a fearless and strong cricketer. That's really important. I started off very simply with him, and I told him this: 'Don't think about picking formats yet. You have to play whatever Sri Lanka needs you to play. If you get injured and then have to pick formats, that's a different thing. But you've been bowling with this action since you were little and you haven't had problems. So I don't think it'll be that difficult for you,” he added.

The 20-year-old has already made his Sri Lanka T20I debut against Afghanistan in Dubai in 2022.

I somehow want to make Matheesha Pathirana even better than me: Lasith Malinga

Malinga was further asked how Pathirana should be developed in the coming few years. He said that he wanted to make the youngster a better bowler than he was.

For the unversed, Malinga made his Sri Lanka debut in 2004 and played his final match in 2020. He played 30 Tests, 226 ODIs, and 84 T20Is for them and picked 101, 338, and 107 wickets respectively. He also played for Mumbai Indians in the IPL from 2009-2019.

“I somehow want to make this guy even better than me. I think in the next Test tour, try to get him involved, and give him some ODIs as well. See how he plays in the next three years, and then see what the future course needs to be. If he plays 10 or 15 Tests in the next three years, that will be invaluable to his development.

We're talking about protecting him from playing for Sri Lanka, before he's even properly played for Sri Lanka. He's only 20 years old,” he said about Pathirana’s development.