Maheesh Theekshana, who serves the Sri Lankan Army, was nurtured by Ajantha Mendis in the Army Cricket team.
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Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner, was the last well-known gift to the cricketing world from Sri Lanka. His first and most comprehensive victims were the likes of Indian greats Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly. He went on to surpass the three-Test debut record of 24 wickets, held by Alec Bedser, by scalping 26 wickets in his debut series and made a name for himself. However, his over reliance on the carrom ball, saw him fade into oblivion in no-time.
But following him, in his stride, is another Sri Lankan mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana who announced himself in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with his four-wicket haul against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a winning cause at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
So who is the mystery spinner and what do we know about his journey?
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Theekshana joined the Sri Lankan Army and served at the rank of a corporal in 2022. He largely credits his rise in cricket to the Sri Lankan Army team and was a part of the army’s infamous Gajaba Regiment, responsible for atrocities such as the Mirusuvil massacre, according to reports in the Tamil Guardian.
He has, time and again, credited war crimes accused Shavendra Silva for shaping up his career.
But another, important, factor in shaping up his career was Mendis, himself, who served as the spin bowling coach for the army team when Theekshana was in his formative years and nurtured his talent.
Incidentally, if you look closely at Theekshana’s crotch-action, it reminds of Mendis whose non-bowling hand would also reach upwards just before delivery.
And just like, Mendis, he carries the carrom ball as one of his most lethal weapon.
In fact, in his formative years, he was keen on developing the carrom ball and mastered the art after practicing it regularly for three years. He was so keen developing the carrom ball that he never tried it in his school games before he perfected it as he doesn’t believes in ‘wasting deliveries’.
Theekshana is, moreover, the seventh Sri Lanka player after Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thisara Perera, Suraj Randiv, and Thilan Thushara to land up a deal for CSK.
Not only that, for a franchise who have traditionally relied heavily on spinners, he looks like their brand new spin weapon in the making.
