Matheesha Pathirana does not do well in SL colors because Kusal Mendis did not mentor him very well as Dhoni did.
Really?
It is another common myth.
Let's first take the technical aspects. How can a captain impact a bowler? Even in IPL, Matheesha bowled a lot of boundary balls. IPL's low quality and his bowling speed assure that they get away in IPL. This will not be the same in international cricket, and there is nothing the captain can do about it. However, the captain decides when he bowls, makes strategies and supports the bowler in field placements. That is one way the role of a captain impacts on the number of boundaries. And, when the number of boundaries increases, the bowler panics and tries to be conservative. He tries to bowl wide yorkers to build dot balls. With his lack of control and building pressure, Matheesha sprays the ball all over. So partially due to captain's weaknesses and also due to Matheesha's weaknesses that get exposed in higher quality international games, he gives away more runs, wides and becomes lesser attacking. Partial impact only.
All right. That means that Kusal Mendis DID have a part in messing up Matheesha ha?
No. Kusal Mendis has never captained a single complete game which Matheesha played. he may have been standing in when the captain is out of the ground during ODIs, but even that was not possible in T20I. Matheesha played 12 ODIs inder Dassa in 2023 including 2 in the WC and got injured in the same game that Dassa did. He played the first T20I in 2022 under Dassa and then in 2024, 3 under Waniya and 2 under Asalanka. Why do you blame Kusal Mendis? It is Kusal Mendis who should blame Matheesha for the long-term spine issues.
Ah ok. Then not Kusal Mendis, but SL captain is the reason for Matheesha's lack of performances ha?
Lack of what? Matheesha did not do well in ODI for sure and that was a wrong selection to begin with. We have not written the script for his ODI. But IPL is T20 so, in T20I in 2024, he has done significently well for SL. He has 11 wickets in 5 matches, going in-par with 13 in 6 IPL matches. Averaging 15, striking 10, only his economy of 9.21 is not in-par with IPL. So Matheesha HAS DONE WELL in SL jersy.
But Matheesha has only played Afghanistan and Bangladesh in T20I, both below IPL quality. So you can reserve your comments on Matheesha not being managed well under Waniya to post-WC.
But not Kusal Mendis. I know that Kusal Mendis is responsible for COVID, the Ukraine War, Gaza killings and the sinking of the Titanic, But at least you gotta relieve him from blaming for Matheesha matters.
