Matheesha Pathirana, one of Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) shining stars of 2023, has faced some challenges in IPL 2025. After picking up 19 wickets in 12 games last season, his performance dipped this year. With an economy rate of 10.40 and an average of 33.11 in 8 matches, Pathirana’s numbers are far from his best.
Eric Simons, CSK’s bowling consultant, discussed the key reason behind his downturn—his action. After CSK’s elimination from the playoffs following a loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS), Simons acknowledged the change in Pathirana’s action.
“There was a bit of an action change,” Simons said. “But he’s pretty much back to where he was in terms of the consistency of his arm height.”
The change in action had already been noted earlier by Stephen Fleming, CSK’s head coach. Fleming pointed out that the action issues were particularly noticeable during the SA20 in South Africa earlier this year. He hinted that Sri Lanka Cricket might have played a role.
“Pathirana was way off in South Africa, and there was an issue with his action,” Fleming said. “But he’s made massive improvements in the two months since. We hope he keeps evolving and settles on an action that brings his best results.”
Despite the challenges, Pathirana’s consistency is slowly returning. Simons noted that Pathirana’s worst outing came against Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 20, where he was hammered for 34 runs in just 1.4 overs.
However, Simons believes that Pathirana’s issues aren’t about accuracy. “Batsmen are playing him better this year,” he said. “They understand his plans. But his channels, lines, and lengths are solid. It’s about evolution.”
In the match against PBKS, Pathirana did pick up two key wickets but conceded 45 runs in his four overs.
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