Morawakage Maheesh Theekshana (born 1 August 2000) is a professional Sri Lankan

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who plays for the national team in all three formats of the game. He made his international debut for

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in September 2021. His bowling action resembles similar to that of former Sri Lankan mystery spinner

Ajantha Mendis Balapuwaduge Ajantha Winslow Mendis ( si, අජන්ත මෙන්ඩිස්; born 11 March 1985) better known as Ajantha Mendis is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who played for Sri Lankan national cricket team in all three formats, who is ...

who coincidentally happens to be his mentor with Sri Lanka Army cricket team. He is attached with Sri Lanka Army and plays club cricket for Sri Lanka Army Sports Club.

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 St. Benedict's College ( Sinhala: සාන්ත බෙනඩික් විදුහල, Tamil: புனித ஆசீர்வாதப்பர் கல்லூரி) is a Catholic school located in the Kotahena area of Colombo, Sri ...

requested the guardian of Theekshana to switch their location to

Kotahena Kotahena is a suburb part of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is an area known as ''Colombo 13'' Places of worship Kotahena is the location of some places of worship: *Dipaduttamarama, where in 1885 for the first time the Buddhist flag was shown and where ...

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.

Military career

Theekshana joined the

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

, following basic training he served as a

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in the

Gajaba Regiment The Gajaba Regiment (GR) is an elite infantry regiment of the Sri Lankan Army. Formed on 14 October 1983 at the Saliyapura Camp in Anuradhapura, it is named after the famous Sinhalese warrior King Gajabahu the First. It consists of 14 regular b ...

and played for the Sri Lanka Army cricket team. Following the Asia Cup Championship in 2022, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

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 The R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium (RPS) ( si, ආර්. ප්‍රේමදාස ක්‍රීඩාංගනය, ta, ஆர். பிரேமதாச அரங்கம்; also known as Khettarama Stadium, Ranasinghe Prem ...

. 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. 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. He was also omitted from Sri Lankan U-19 squad for the

2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament that was held in New Zealand from 13 January to 3 February 2018. It was the twelfth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the third to be hel ...

on the basis of fitness issues. According to some sources, Theekshana had weighed around 117 kilograms during his U19 days. Theekshana made his

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debut for

Colts Cricket Club Colts Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They have won 6 first class tournaments of Sri Lanka domestic league as in 1991/92, 1999/2000, 2001/02, 2004/05, 2008/09 and 2011/12 and 2 Premier Limited Overs Tourn ...

in the

2017–18 Premier Limited Overs Tournament The 2017–18 Premier Limited Overs Tournament was a List A cricket competition that took place in Sri Lanka. It was the seventeenth edition of the Premier Limited Overs Tournament, and the first since the 2015–16 edition, after the 2016–17 ...

on 14 March 2018. He made his first-class debut for Colts Cricket Club in the

2018–19 Premier League Tournament The 2018–19 Premier League Tournament was the 31st season of first-class cricket in Sri Lanka's Premier Trophy. The tournament started on 30 November 2018 and concluded on 10 February 2019. Fourteen teams took part in Tier A of the competition ...

on 7 December 2018. In October 2020, he was drafted by the

Jaffna Stallions Jaffna Kings, formerly known as Jaffna Stallions, are a franchise cricket team which plays in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). On December 16, 2020, the team won the inaugural Lanka Premier League 2020 Championship and are the current title hold ...

for the inaugural edition of the

Lanka Premier League The Lanka Premier League (abbreviated as LPL; , ) is a professional cricket league in Sri Lanka in Twenty20 format contested every year by teams representing Sri Lankan cities from 2020. The league was founded by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) in 201 ...

. 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. 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. 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 Narangoda Liyanaarachchige Thisara Chirantha Perera ( si, තිසර පෙරේරා; born 3 April 1989), popularly as Thisara Perera, is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer who played all formats for the national team. He also capt ...

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. In August 2021, Theekshana was named in the SLC Blues team for the

2021 SLC Invitational T20 League The 2021 SLC Invitational T20 League was a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place in Sri Lanka from 12 to 24 August 2021. All the matches were played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, in Kandy, and were used as preparation for ...

tournament. In November 2021, he was selected to play for the

Jaffna Kings Jaffna Kings, formerly known as Jaffna Stallions, are a franchise cricket team which plays in the Lanka Premier League (LPL). On December 16, 2020, the team won the inaugural Lanka Premier League 2020 Championship and are the current title hold ...

following the players' draft for the

2021 Lanka Premier League The 2021 Lanka Premier League also known as Wolf777 News LPL T20, for sponsorship reasons, was the second edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) Twenty20 franchise cricket tournament in Sri Lanka. It took place from 5 to 23 December 2021. The ...

. he ended tournament with highest wicket taker of

2021. In February 2022, he was bought by the

Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

in the

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for the

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tournament. During the 2022 edition of the Tata IPL, he broke

Rohit Sharma Rohit Gurunath Sharma (born 30 April 1987) is an Indian international cricketer and the current captain of the Indian cricket team. Widely considered as one of the best opening batter of all time, he plays as a right-handed batsman for Mumbai ...

's record to become the youngest ever bowler to take a four-wicket haul in an IPL match as he achieved the landmark at the age of 21 years and 255 days against

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor b ...

. In July 2022, he was signed by the

for the third edition of the

. In July 2022, he was signed by

Trinbago Knight Riders The Trinbago Knight Riders (formerly the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel) are a franchise cricket team of the Caribbean Premier League based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Red Steel was one of the original six teams created for the t ...

for the

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. 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.

International career

Following Theekshana's strong performances in the SLC Invitational T20 league, he was named in Sri Lanka's

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(ODI) and

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(T20I) squads for their series against South Africa. He made his ODI debut on 7 September 2021, for Sri Lanka against

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. In the match, he took a wicket with his first ball in ODI cricket. He took 4 wickets for 37 runs, helping Sri Lanka win the series 2–1. He became the first Sri Lankan international cricketer to be born in the 21st century. He made his T20I debut on 10 September 2021, also for Sri Lanka against South Africa. Later the same month, Theekshana was named in Sri Lanka's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the United Arab Emirates and Oman from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventua ...

. He ended the tournament as second highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka with eight scalps. In June 2022, he achieved his career best eighth ranking in ICC Men's T20I Player Rankings for bowlers. In July 2022, he was added to Sri Lanka's

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squad for the second match against Australia. He made his Test debut on 8 July 2022, for Sri Lanka against

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. In August 2022, he was included in Sri Lanka's squad for the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

. Along with

Wanindu Hasaranga Pinnaduwage Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva (born 29 July 1997), better known as Wanindu Hasaranga, is a Sri Lankan international cricketer who plays for the Sri Lanka cricket team in white ball cricket as a bowling All rounder. He is a Right-arm leg ...

, Theekshana made the spin bowling department, where Sri Lanka eventually won the tournament for the sixth time. 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.

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 ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Theekshana, Maheesh 2000 births Living people Sri Lankan cricketers Sri Lanka Test cricketers Sri Lanka One Day International cricketers Sri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers Colts Cricket Club cricketers Chennai Super Kings cricketers Joburg Super Kings cricketers Cricketers from Colombo Gajaba Regiment soldiers