Maheesh Theekshana

Some Lesser Known Facts About Maheesh Theekshana

• Maheesh Theekshana is a Sri Lankan who is regarded as a mystery spinner by cricket pundits. He has given many wonderful performances in IPL. On his debut in international cricket, he became the first Sri Lankan cricketer who was born in the millennium, starting from 2000.

• He joined Asoka de Silva School of Cricket in 2010 where he learnt the basics of cricket. Shanthilal Silva and Vivian Saverymuthapulle, two boys from St. Benedict’s College, Colombo convinced his grandmother to move and get him enrolled at St. Benedict’s College in Kotahena following which he started playing school-level tournaments.
  

  

  

• He made his T20 debut for the Colts Cricket Club on 1 March 2018 in the 2017-18 SLC Twenty-20 Tournament. He made his List A (one-day) and first-class debut for the same team on 14 March 2018 in the 2017-18 Premier Limited Overs Tournament and 7 December 2018 in the 2018–19 Premier League Tournament respectively.

  

• Theekshana learnt the variations of spin bowling when he played for the Sri Lankan Army Under-23 team while training under Ajantha Mendis and played in the 2020 Army Commander’s Cup.

• In 2017, he underwent trials at the National Cricket Academy at R. Premadasa Stadium; however, he failed the fitness tests due to weighing around 105 kg; he ran 2 km in 10.1 minutes, and his skinfold score was 140 which lies between 91-100 for average people and 81-100 for athletes.

  

• The director of the academy, Simon Willis, was impressed with Theekshana’s bowling; however, due to his fitness concerns, he could not make it to the Sri Lanka Under-19 team for the 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup. This incident forced Theekshana to undergo a significant weight loss transformation.

  

• In 2020, Theekshana joined the Sri Lankan Army and worked hard on his fitness to such an extent that he lowered his weight by 22 kgs and improved his YOYO test score from 19.2 to 16.1; he also reduced his 2 km sprint timing from 10.1 to 8.28 seconds and his skinfold score to almost half of 140.

  

• He started his ODI career against South Africa by taking a wicket on his first ODI delivery and ended the match with 4 wickets for 37 runs. In a match against Zimbabwe in the 2023 ODI World Cup Qualifiers, he took 4 wickets for 25 runs.

  

• During the 2022 Asia Cup, he took 6 wickets for 162 runs and helped Sri Lanka to become winners of the tournament. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, he emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka with 8 wickets in 7 matches.

  

• In 2020, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) put him in the supplementary category which made him ineligible to participate in the auction for the first season of the Lanka Premier League (LPL). Former Sri Lankan captain Thisara Perera requested Jaffna Stallions to include him in the team as he was impressed with Theekshana’s bowling. Acting upon the request of the management of Jaffna Stallions, SLC placed him in the Emerging category, and Stallions acquired him for $10,000.

  

• In the 2021 LPL season, Theekshana emerged as the highest wicket-taker with 16 wickets for the Jaffna Kings. In the 2022 LPL season, Jaffna Kings acquired him for ($ 40,000; approx LKR 14 million) in the Diamond A group and represented them in the 2023 season as well.

• Theekshana was bought off in the 2022 IPL auction by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 70 lakhs against the base price of Rs 50 lakhs. He took 12 wickets and 11 wickets in the 2022 and 2023 seasons of IPL respectively.

  

• He represented Trinbago Knight Riders in the 2022 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season, Johannesburg Super Kings in the first South Africa T20 League (SA20) season in 2023, Rangpur Riders in the 2023 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) season, and Samp Army in the 2022 Abu Dhabi T10 season.

  

• He joined the Sri Lankan Army in 2020, and after finishing his training, he was posted as a Private in the Gajaba Regiment. After Sri Lanka won the 2022 Asia Cup, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 20 September 2022.

  

• The cricket wing of St. Benedict’s College, Colombo arranged funds for Theekshana with the help of a cricket coach named Lucky Rogers as he was unable to pay his fees. He later got a full scholarship with the help of Sports Coordinator Rev. Br. Pravin Vaz (FSC) and the school’s Director Rev. Br. Janaka Fonseka (FSC).

• He signed up with BS Cricket Management in March 2023.

  

• Since Theekshana also served in the Sri Lankan, his auction to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2022 was met with criticism by several people who alleged involvement of the Sri Lankan Army in the civil crisis in the early 1990s. ^[1]The Morning

• When Sri Lanka was amidst a financial crisis, he donated tissue vault, cell, and freezing bags to the Human Heart Valve and Tissue Bank at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo in June 2022.

  

• During the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Mumbai Indians (MI) match in IPL 2023, fans were surprised as the speed of one of his deliveries was shown as 152 kph. Later, it was revealed that it was an error.

  

• He is fond of animals and regularly goes to wildlife parks.

  

• His celebration style of posing as an anchor is very popular among his fans.