“Maybe a lot of people will oppose me,” Lasith Malinga disagrees with MS Dhoni’s remark on young CSK pacer’s Test future

The Sri Lankan legend wants the 20-year-old to get some valuable experience in Tests and ODIs for a couple of years.

“Maybe a lot of people will oppose me,” Lasith Malinga disagrees with MS Dhoni’s remark on young CSK pacer’s Test future

Lasith Malinga, MS Dhoni

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who is also known as ‘Baby Malinga’ due to his bowling action, has grabbed eyeballs with his impressive performance in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). He is one of CSK’s valuable discoveries and provides the team with his services, especially in the death overs.

Now apart from the fans and CSK, ‘Baby Malinga’ also impressed his compatriot Lasith Malinga, who is providing his services to the Rajasthan Royals (RR) franchise as a bowling consultant. The Sri Lankan legend wants the 20-year-old to get some valuable experience in Tests and ODIs for a couple of years.

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“I somehow want to make this guy even better than me,” Malinga told ESPNcricinfo. “I think in the next Test tour, try to get him involved, and give him some ODIs as well. See how he plays in the next three years, and then see what the future course needs to be. If he plays 10 or 15 Tests in the next three years, that will be invaluable to his development.”

Related: MS Dhoni advises Sri Lanka Cricket to keep Matheesha Pathirana away from Test cricket

Lasith Malinga says MS Dhoni asked Matheesha Pathirana not to play Tests due to injury

"Maybe a lot of people will oppose me," Lasith Malinga disagrees with MS Dhoni's remark on young CSK pacer's Test future
Matheesha Pathirana

During that interview, Lasith Malinga was also directly asked whether he seriously disagrees with MS Dhoni on Matheesha Pathirana’s Test career. Notably, Dhoni, in one of the post-match ceremonies hailed the Sri Lankan youngster but also suggested he avoid playing red-ball cricket.

Malinga has expressed his wonder at Dhoni’s suggestion that Pathirana should play only ICC tournaments. The 39-year-old understood that Dhoni might have said that to protect the youngster from getting injured in red-ball cricket. He then cited his own example about how when he started, no one suggested he avoid Tests due to injury. He also said despite playing international cricket, IPL, as well as the Big Bash League, he kept injuries at bay.

“Maybe a lot of people will oppose me, but I don’t think we should just presume that he will get injured,” Malinga said.

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