MS Dhoni gives advice to emerging CSK player; 'He shouldn't play red-ball cricket'

Chennai Super Kings ascended to second in the Indian Premier League 2023 standings with their win over the Mumbai Indians on Saturday. The squad owed much of the win to 20-year-old Matheeshan Pathirana, who emerged as the top wicket-takers with figures of 3/15. Courtesy of his show, CSK restricted MI to 131/8 in the first innings and chased down the total in just 17.4 overs.

After the win, MS Dhoni shed his thoughts on the Lankan youngster and put forward some major advice for him. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Dhoni said Pathirana should stay away from red-ball cricket in order to manage his workload properly. The Chennai Super Kings skipper also highlighted Pathirana’s capacities.

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"People who don’t have very clean action"

“People who don’t have very clean action, batsmen have a difficult time picking it and when trying to go after the bowler. But his consistency, variation, pace makes him special. What’s important is to keep an eye on how much cricket he is playing. 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,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation.

“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. The 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,” he further added.

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IPL: Matheesha Pathirana concedes no boundaries against MI

Interestingly, playing his 7th game of IPL 2023, the youngster conceded only 15 runs in his spell. To kick-start his impressive performance, the 20-year-old sensation conceded a mere five runs during his spell in the 13th over. However, in the 15th over, he gave away a few more runs, as the Mumbai Indians batsmen scored just seven runs off his bowling.

In the 18th over, he achieved a breakthrough by dismissing Nehal Wadhera and only allowed two runs. As the final over of the innings began, the talented Sri Lankan bowler struck again by getting rid of Arshad Khan, toppling the stumps of Tristan Stubbs. Notably, he maintained an impeccable record by not conceding a single boundary throughout his impressive display at CSK’s home ground.