Chennai Super Kings' Matheesha Pathirana with skipper MS Dhoni. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Chennai Super Kings’ pacer Matheesha Pathirana rattled Mumbai Indians batters towards the end of the first innings and restrict the visitors to 139.
On Saturday, Pathirana mixed his lengths as much as he varied his pace and finished with 3-15 in four overs bowling at the death.
His performance not only enhanced his reputation of being this season’s death over specialist but also drew praise from his captain MS Dhoni.
𝙔𝙊𝙍𝙆𝙀𝘿!
A remarkable delivery from Pathirana to dismiss the well-set Wadhera 👏🏻👏🏻#TATAIPL | #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/G9N2m6BeYQ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2023
“People who don’t have very clean (conventional) action, batsmen have a difficult time picking it and when trying to go after the bowler,” said Dhoni at the post match presentation.
“But his consistency, varitation, pace makes him special. What’s important is to keep an eye on how much cricket he is playing.”
Stating his opinion on how to manage Pathirana’s workload, Dhoni said, “I feel he should not play red-ball cricket, not even get close to it, even play only ICC tournaments with ODIs and keep the rest as less as possible, because he’s not someone who’ll change a lot.”
“This is what he’ll do. So you can always use him at crucial times. But make sure he’s fit and available for all the ICC tournaments and he’ll be a great asset for Sri Lanka. Not to forget, he’s a really young boy. Last time he came, he was very lean but has put on muscle and is stronger. I feel he’ll serve for a long time in Sri Lankan cricket but he’ll have to keep an eye on how much he bowls,” Dhoni concluded.
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