Morawakage Maheesh Theekshana (born 1 August 2000) is a professional cricketer who plays for the Sri Lanka national cricket team in all three formats of the game. He made his international debut for Sri Lanka in September 2021. His bowling action resembles that of former Sri Lankan mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis, who coincidentally happened to be his mentor with the Sri Lanka Army Sports Club, whom he has represented in the Sri Lankan domestic game.[1]
He currently plays for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League in club cricket, winning the championship as a key player in 2023.He is regarded as one of the best T20 bowlers in the world.
Early life
Theekshana grew up with his grandmother and hailed from Siddhartha Vidyalaya, Sedawatta. Two of the old boys from St. Benedict's College, Colombo requested the guardian of Theekshana to switch their location to Kotahena in order to make Theekshana play school cricket representing St. Benedict's College. The Cricket Wing of St. Benedict's volunteered to look after his finances in the first two years and later the St. Benedict's College granted him a scholarship offer. He repaid the faith by winning the All Island Best All Rounder Award during his final year at St. Benedict's College.[2]
Military career
Theekshana joined the Sri Lanka Army, following basic training he served as a Private in the Gajaba Regiment and played for the Sri Lanka Army cricket team. Following the Asia Cup Championship in 2022, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.[3]
Domestic and T20 franchise career
After having impressed with the ball at school level, he was called for trials by the National Cricket Academy at R. Premadasa Stadium. He subsequently impressed the spin bowling coaches and director of cricket at National Cricket Academy, Simon Willis with his control, accuracy, bounce, variations in addition to his Ajantha Mendis alike bowling action.[4] However, he was under scrutiny for his body weight as at one stage he weighed at 105 kilograms, 140 skin-folds and he also faced difficulties to pass fitness tests as he took 10.1 minutes to complete the two-kilometre tests and also produced sub par YOYO test conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket.[5] He was also omitted from Sri Lankan U-19 squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup on the basis of fitness issues.[6] According to some sources, Theekshana had weighed around 117 kilograms during his U19 days.[7]
Theekshana made his List A debut for Colts Cricket Club in the 2017–18 Premier Limited Overs Tournament on 14 March 2018.[8] He made his first-class debut for Colts Cricket Club in the 2018–19 Premier League Tournament on 7 December 2018.[9] In October 2020, he was drafted by the Jaffna Stallions for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.[10] He joined Sri Lanka Army in 2020 and transformed him completely as he began adhering to strict food diets and worked hard on improving his fitness levels. He also subsequently reduced his weight as per the level of expectations levelled on him in order to pursue his cricketing ambitions. By 2020, he had dropped 22 kilograms and halved his skinfold levels. He also improved his two-kilometer run within 10 minutes and improved his YOYO test maximum from 16.1 to 19.2.[4] He trained under Ajantha Mendis who was his first coach with Sri Lanka Army when he joined Army's U-23 side. He was picked in 2020 Lanka Premier League on the back with his impressive performances at 2020 Army Commander's Cup.[11] He initially didn't make the cut for the 2020 Lanka Premier League draft and he was categorized in supplementary category which made him ineligible to play. However, with the recommendation of Thisara Perera he was promoted from supplementary category to emerging category in Jaffna Stallions squad for the 2020 LPL season after the request was accepted by SLC.[12]
In August 2022, he was picked up by Johannesburg Super Kings for the inaugural edition of the South Africa's unnamed CSA T20 League which is set to be held in 2023.[20][21]
International career
Following Theekshana's strong performances in the SLC Invitational T20 league, he was named in Sri Lanka's One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for their series against South Africa.[22][23] He made his ODI debut on 7 September 2021, for Sri Lanka against South Africa.[24] In the match, he took a wicket with his first ball in ODI cricket.[25] He took 4 wickets for 37 runs,[26] helping Sri Lanka win the series 2–1.[27] He became the first Sri Lankan international cricketer to be born in the 21st century.[28] He made his T20I debut on 10 September 2021, also for Sri Lanka against South Africa.[29] Later the same month, Theekshana was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[30][31] He ended the tournament as second highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka with eight scalps.[32]
In July 2022, he was added to Sri Lanka's Test squad for the second match against Australia.[34] He made his Test debut on 8 July 2022, for Sri Lanka against Australia.[35] In August 2022, he was included in Sri Lanka's squad for the 2022 Asia Cup.[36] Along with Wanindu Hasaranga, Theekshana made the spin bowling department, where Sri Lanka eventually won the tournament for the sixth time.[37] Theekshana made consistent wicket taking option for skipper Dasun Shanaka, where he ended the tournament with 6 wickets for 162 runs with an economy of 6.75.[38]
Controversy
The fans of Chennai Super Kings expressed their grief and vent their frustrations in disbelief by trending hashtags #Boycott_ChennaiSuperKings and #DontNormalizeTamilGenocide in various social media platforms soon after Chennai Super Kings bought Theekshana during the 2022 IPL auction since he had served in the Sri Lankan army.[39]
Chamika Karunaratne was named as a reserve player. Chamika Karunaratne replaced the injured Dasun Shanaka. Angelo Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera were named as travelling reserves. Angelo Mathews and Dushmantha Chameera replaced the injured Matheesha Pathirana and Lahiru Kumara.
