Would prefer Pathirana not to play red-ball cricket: Dhoni

Matheesha Pathirana might be just 20 but with the amount of lifting that he has done this season with the ball for Chennai Super Kings, he is already a veteran. In the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the right-arm speedster has bagged ten wickets, and all the ten wickets have come at the death. 

Against Mumbai, Pathirana was at his lethal best and became the youngest CSK star to pick up a three-wicket haul, including the prized scalp of the youngster, Nehal Wadhera. In the post-match presentation, MS Dhoni praised the youngster and his consistency. 

Alongside that, the 41-year-old had reckoned that he would prefer Pathirana not to play red-ball cricket, and instead focus on white-ball formats alone. 

“People who don't have a very clean action batters find it difficult to pick them. It is not the pace or variations, but the consistency. I would prefer him not to play red-ball cricket and play all the ICC tournaments, he would be a great asset for Sri Lanka. He was slightly lean last season and has added muscle this season,” Dhoni heaped praises on Pathirana’s performance.

Interestingly, Dhoni revealed that if it was up to him, he wouldn’t have bowled first. Dhoni’s reasoning behind his move was that he expected the pitch to slow down. But luckily for him, it was the right decision at the end of the day as Mumbai crashed to a six-wicket defeat.

“I was doubtful with the decision at the toss, I wanted to bat first but the think tank thought about the rain, I was slightly outnumbered and so we went with the majority. If there is some kind of a confusion then we sit and talk about it. I felt the wicket will slow down and that was the reason behind it, and even if rain comes then the majority of the game would have been done,” he added.

Prior to this game, due to the wash-out against Lucknow Super Giants, Chennai found themselves in a tricky situation. So, heading into this clash, two points were all that was in focus for Dhoni and co. 

“It was a very crucial game for a simple reason, if you see the points table there's a muddle in the middle. Last few games the results have not gone in our favour and so it is good to be on the winning side.”

Pathirana, who ended with figures of 3/15 after four overs, including bowling two overs of dot-balls, was named the Player of the Match. Pathirana thanked the Chennai management, insisting that they give him a lot of ‘confidence’. When puzzled about his celebrations, the Sri Lankan revealed that it was copied from the global superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo. 

“My journey with CSK started from last year, I came in as a replacement and played only two games, but this season I am playing more and I am happy. They (team management) give me a lot of confidence," Pathirana said in the post-match presentation. 

"This is my best bowling figures in T20 cricket and I am happy with the performance. I am a die hard fan of Cristiano Ronaldo (referring to his celebrations after picking a wicket),” Pathirana added.

With that win, Chennai moved back to reclaim the second spot on the points table, with 13 points, just one behind the runaway leaders, Gujarat Titans.