When Kugadas Mathulan bowled a lethal in-swinging yorker that swept the batsman off his feet, he wouldn't have thought that the viral clip from the match between St. John’s College and Jaffna Central College will catch the attention of Chennai Super Kings' iconic skipper MS Dhoni.
The 17-year-old right-arm Jaffna pacer's dream delivery not only did that but also reportedly earned him an invitation to bowl in the CSK nets in
IPL 2024
, which is allowing Dhoni to have a closer look at the young bowler.
Interestingly, Muthulan's bowling action bears close resemblance to current Mumbai Indians' bowling coach Lasith Malinga. Like the Sri Lankan great, Muthulan too delivers with an unusual round-arm action that can put the batsmen off.
Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana is also part of the CSK squad, but is currently nursing a hamstring injury and is a doubtful starter for the the initial part of the coming IPL season.
Five-time champions CSK will kick off their IPL 2024 campaign with the tournament opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 22 at their fortress, the MA Chidamabaram Stadium, in Chennai.