The video of a 17-year-old Sri Lankan pacer who bowled yorkers very similar to those of Lasith Malinga's, recently took the internet by a storm.
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga has been one of the greatest cricketers of Sri Lanka for over a decade now and his bowling action has been very popular among cricket lovers.
He bowls fierce yorkers, which most of the batsmen of the world feared to play. Now, Malinga's pace has reduced with increasing age and he is not as lethal as he once used to be.
He has already retired from One Day International and Test cricket which created a void in the Sri Lankan cricket.
However, when a video of 17-year-old Matheesha Pathirana bowling toe-crushing yorkers with Malinga-like slingy action went viral on social media, it seems that the country has found a replacement for the bowling legend.
The 36-year-old pacer is now captaining Sri Lanka’s T20I team.
The video shows the teenager playing for his college in Kandy. The same college has so far produced great cricketers like Kumar Sangakkara.
Though it is too early to say that Sri Lanka has found Malinga's replacement, there is no denying the fact that the action and toe-crushing yorkers of Matheesha Pathirana are just like Malinga’s.
In the video, the teenage pacer can be seen dismissing six batsmen and it was reported that he conceded just seven runs for these six wickets.