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Why Is Matheesha Pathirana Not Playing For Sri Lanka In Asia Cup Match vs Hong Kong?

Aashay Chopade

Matheesha Pathirana for Sri Lanka (Source: AFP)Matheesha Pathirana for Sri Lanka (Source: AFP)

Sri Lanka are bowling first after winning the toss against Hong Kong in their second match of the 2025 edition of the Asia Cup. They were quite impressive with both bat and ball in the first match against Bangladesh, and now they would be hoping to dominate even further against Hong Kong.

They have made one change to their playing XI, though, with Matheesha Pathirana getting replaced by Maheesh Theekshana. Thus, Sri Lanka have only two pacers in their team for this game while Theekshana will partner Wanindu Hasaranga in the spin department.

Sri Lanka Respect Conditions In Dubai With Theekshana's inclusion

There are multiple reasons why Sri Lanka have decided to leave out Matheesha Pathirana. Firstly, the pitch in Dubai is quite dry, and it is likely to help spinners more than the fast bowlers. Thus, Sri Lanka have decided to go with an extra spinner, Maheesh Theekshana who can run through the batting line-ups on his day.

Teams like India and Pakistan have even preferred going with only one frontline seamer in their XI while playing in Dubai. Also, Matheesha Pathirana was not in the best of form in the opening match he played against Bangladesh. He was the only frontline bowler of Sri Lanka who went wicketless in the game against Bangla Tigers. He also leaked 42 runs, and thus, Lankan management has preferred Thushara and Chameera over him.

Also, Matheesha Pathirana is an injury-prone cricketer. Thus, Sri Lanka would like to use him cautiously and give him ample rest before the games they think he would be most needed. Thus, Sri Lanka are playing it quite cleverly against Hong Kong and would expect that their selected bowlers can do the damage against Hong Kong.