Eric Simons on Pathirana’s eventual return to form saying that ‘It’s a feel thing for him’ after latest bowling effort.
Eric Simons says Pathirana is close to being back at his best.
One of the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) greatest success stories of 2023 was Matheesha Pathirana, who took 19 wickets in 12 games at an economy rate of 8.01. His 2024 participation was limited because to a hamstring ailment. Nine wickets in eight games, a high economy rate of 10.40, and an average of 33.11 have been recorded in the IPL 2025.
A modified course of action is somewhat to blame for the lack of success, which somewhat reflects the season CSK has had.
“I think it’s been pretty well documented that there was a bit of [an] action change,” Eric Simons, CSK bowling consultant, said after CSK lost to Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Wednesday to be eliminated from the playoffs race. “But I think he’s pretty much back to where he was, just in terms of the height of his arm on a reasonably consistent basis.”
Following CSK’s most recent game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), head coach Stephen Fleming appeared to imply that Sri Lanka Cricket may be to blame for the action shift that was noticeable in South Africa during the SA20 earlier this year.
“Pathirana, in South Africa, he was way off. And yes, there was an issue with his action and that might be a question for Sri Lanka Cricket,” Fleming had said in a press conference. “But we’ll certainly look to try and get him back into form and get him back to what we think is his best action and his best opportunity at performing well.
“He’s not far away. He’s made a massive improvement in the two months since South Africa. And we just hope he keeps making that improvement part of his evolution; he is going to try things, and be asked to try things, and he’ll settle at some point on an action that will give him the best results.”
“I’m not sure that he is less accurate. I think batsmen are playing him a lot better. We can certainly see a trend the way batsmen are playing against him. Particularly against Mumbai the other day, the technique they are using, they understand what his plans are [and] what he does,” Simons said. “So the evolution might just be: what’s next for him? Tactically, what he needs to do to keep evolving. Batsmen need to keep evolving. Bowlers need to keep evolving.