Chennai Super Kings’ pacer Matheesha Pathirana bowled an exceptional spell against the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2023 game on May 6. After the CSK vs MI game, CSK skipper MS Dhoni discussed about Pathirana’s international career and stated that he should not play red-ball cricket.
Pathirana rattled the MI batting lineup with his excellent death bowling as they were restricted for just 139 runs. MS Dhoni looked pretty impressed with his performance and discussed about his abilities with the ball and his international career in the post-match presentation ceremony.
It’s important to keep an eye on how much cricket Pathirana is playing: MS Dhoni
“People who don’t have any clean action, batsmen have a difficult time picking it. But his consistency, pace makes him special. What’s important is to keep an eye on how much cricket he is playing” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“I feel he should not play red-ball cricket, not even get close to it, he can play only ICC tournaments. He is young and he would be a great asset for Sri Lankan cricket. Last time he came, he was lean but now he has put on muscle and is stronger,” the CSK skipper further added about Pathirana’s international career.
Talking about the game, the Mumbai Indians side had got off to a terrible start as they lost the wickets of Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan and captain Rohit Sharma in quick succession. They did settle down in the middle overs but were destroyed by Matheesha Pathirana’s pace in the crucial death overs.
Matheesha Pathirana took the crucial wicket of dangerous-looking Nehal Wadhera who had scored a brilliant 51-ball 64 with an excellent yorker. The CSK pacer then dismissed Tristan Stubbs and Arshad Khan in the final over of Mumbai Indians’ innings as their batters constantly failed to score boundaries against Pathirana.
The young pacer finished with the figures of 3 for 15 in his four-over spell in which he bowled some deadly yorkers. At once, the Mumbai Indians side looked like going beyond the 160-run mark but the exceptional display of death bowling by Pathirana reduced them to a total of 139 runs.
Matheesha Pathirana has looked in some brilliant form right from the first game that he played in the ongoing IPL 2023 season and has changed the fortunes of the Chennai Super Kings’ bowling department. His form will be vital for the MS Dhoni-led side as they will look to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2023.