Matheesha Pathirana is once in a generation player: Brett Lee

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) picked up their fourth win of the IPL 2024 by defeating the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 20 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Chennai set a target of 207 runs but Mumbai could only muster 186 runs in their stipulated 20 overs, largely due to a century by Rohit Sharma. JioCinema IPL experts Brett Lee and Suresh Raina discussed the performances of Matheesha Pathirana (4/28), Ruturaj Gaikwad (69 runs), Shivam Dube (66* runs) and Rohit Sharma (105* runs) on Match Centre Live. 

Brett Lee spoke on Matheesha Pathirana - "He's once in a generation player. Probably 2.0 in terms of the slinger, but he's bowled beautifully once again tonight. It's the pace he's bowling at. 150 kmph from right in front of the umpire's chest, it's a different trajectory of the wicket, out of the hand. He got four wickets, he's content with it. He seems like a lovely kid as well. He's going from strength to strength and that's a huge reason why the Men in Yellow are doing as well, with guys bowling as well as he is." 

Lee on Rohit Sharma's century - "It was a brilliant hundred. The fact that he went out there and played, and got it at a good clip too. I liked it when he scored the hundred and didn't raise his bat because that tells me the win means more than the personal hundred. He played with real intent right from ball one. He played shots all over the ground. But the power, the finesse came into play. 105 not-out, 63 balls, 11 fours, five sixes. Some of those sixes could have gone out of the ground in other stadiums. It was beautiful batting, but unfortunately, sometimes you can't do things on your own." 

Lee on Ruturaj Gaikwad - "I was shocked that he came in at No. 3 and not at the top of the order. He didn't leave it long until he got to his business. He just finds a way to find the boundary, he has power that other batters can't seem to find. But hopefully next game, back to the top of the order please."

Suresh Raina spoke on Shivam Dube - "This is Dube’s home ground. The way we saw him time fast bowlers, the way he's playing in the covers, and his good head positioning is awesome. His mind is clear, if it's a short ball, he will hit, and if it goes up, he will leave it. There's no confusion. He used to hit leg spinners for shots but now he's smashing fast bowlers for sixes. We know he's set with spinners but the way he's building an atmosphere around him, playing fast bowlers, and now the World Cup is coming up, the team needs a player like him. He's handling pressure. Whenever he plays for CSK, he absorbs pressure for them. He takes his time, rotates the strike, and his body language is great. Like, 'If I have gone out, I will at least score 70 to 80 runs.' He's improving his batting every year. It's good to see his self-confidence grow and the sixes he hit were neat and clean, just like when Yuvraj Singh used to bat."