Everyone at CSK Including Captain MS Dhoni, Other Players and Staff Share a Good Bond: Maheesh Theekshana | Exclusive

Maheesh Theekshana is back for national duty with the Sri Lankan team after taking part in the ongoing International T20 League in the UAE where he represented Sharjah Warriors.

Warriors may be in the bottom half of the ILT20 points table but Theekshana had a fruitful outing for the team, taking 11 wickets from eight matches, the second most so far for them after Daniel Sams (12 wickets in 9 matches).

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He might be just 23 but the offspinner already packs a punch with his widespread experience in the short format of the game, having played in 135 T20s spread across international, domestic and franchise cricket.

The globe-trotting Sri Lankan has played in various T20 leagues stretching from eastern to the western hemisphere including IPL, BPL, CPL, LPL, ILT20, Abu Dhabi T10 and others.

Theekshana feels playing in such varied leagues and conditions is benefitting him.

“I think in every way, there’s a challenge,” Theekshana told News18 CricketNext when quizzed on the experience of playing in ILT20. “Because of the wickets and the conditions, everything is different for me. I’ve been part of a lot of training. So, I think it’s a good experience for me to play in all the leagues. When I get the chance. I’m getting more experience.”

Besides Theekshana, the Sharjah Warriors squad for the ILT20 2024 boasts of high-profile players such as Chris Woakes, Martin Guptill, Niroshan Dickwella, Daniel Sams, Johnson Charles among others.

“I think the boys are really good. I know a lot of guys. The coach (Johan Botha) is the first time I am playing with. We just had a good conversation. It’s going really well,” Theekshana said of the team bonding.

Theekshana was part of Chennai Super Kings last year when they won their record-equaling fifth IPL title under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. He played in 13 of their 16 matches during the season and took 11 wickets.

“I think in CSK, it gets really easy (to settle in) since they treat players really well,” Theekshana said on his time with the franchise so far. “There’s good bonding between the players. Even MS Dhoni and all the players, the owners and staff, we have a very good bond with each other. So, we protect each other at any cost. Because we have the confidence and we trust the players that we have and the staff as well. So, I think that’s the most important feature of CSK.”

Before breaking into the Sri Lankan national team, Theekshana worked hard on his fitness, losing weight to meet the criteria. And he feels it’s one of his proudest feats.

“I think my biggest issue was with fitness. I struggled a lot due to it and didn’t get the chances as I would have wanted. Obviously to get into the national team, I had to work a lot on my fitness. I think it was a great achievement,” he said.

The cricket calendar seems to have become overcrowded with the emergence of T20 leagues and that has raised a big question over the future of international cricket and bilateral tours.

Theekshana feels that both can co-exist and that they are equally important for every player.

“I think both international cricket and franchise tournaments are important for each and every player. For me, whenever I don’t have international tour in our calendar, I can use that time to play in the franchise league. So, I’m getting more experience from that too, getting used to the conditions in different countries that I’m playing. So, it’s really beneficial,” he said.

Theekshana plays down the impact of getting familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of players they team up with when playing in different leagues and then possibly using that information against them when squaring of at the international level.

“I think when we’re in the practice sessions, normally we don’t get to face each other frequently in every net session. We only bowl to the sticks or face throwdowns. When playing them at the international level, we are aware of their strengths and everything. We know how to create set-ups and everything. So, there’s no big information that we can get (from net sessions),” he said.