Mathesh Pathirana has called Mahendra Singh Dhoni his ‘cricketing father’ in a new documentary for the Chennai Super Kings Franchise, which was recently released. The Sri Lankan cricketer and his parents spoke about the Dhoni influence on his rise in the documentary.
Pathirana is with CSK as he was signed as a replacement for Adam Milne during IPL 2022. He was also one of the players who were elected to maintain the IPL 2025 auction.
Pathirana said, “Dhoni is like my father, because support and mentorship and guidance that he is giving me, when I am in CSK,” said Pathirana. “What did my father do in my house.
Mathesh’s mother Shalika said in the video, “There is no word for MS Dhoni.
“In Sri Lanka, you are my father, this is MS Dhoni in India,” said his father Anura.
After rapidly tracked into the CSK team, Pesar has also moved forward to represent the Sri Lankan national team. In 2023, Pathirana ended her success IPL season, ending 19 wickets out of 12 matches. In the next season, he took 13 wickets out of six matches.
In the video, Pathirana also spoke of her response when he first met Dhoni. He said that Dhoni turned to him and asked, “Hi, Mali. How are you?”
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‘Mali’ was a drama on Pathirana’s cricketing nickname ‘Baby Malinga’ (because Pesar of Lanka took his bowling action on Sri Lankan Pesar Legend Lasith Malinga).
“This (gardener) is very familiar to me, because when we are in Sri Lanka, Mali means younger brother,” said Pathirana. “So that kind of legend calls me ‘gardener’, wow, it’s great. It’s great.”
