‘He shouldn’t play red-ball cricket’ – MS Dhoni’s golden piece of advice for CSK fast bowler after match-winning spell against MI in IPL 2023 clash

In the 49th fixture of the 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) locked horns against Mumbai Indians (MI) in the El-Classico of IPL at the Arun Jaitely Stadium, in New Delhi on Saturday, May 6.

Chennai Super Kings won the match with six wickets in hand and Sri Lanka’s youngster, Matheesha Pathirana was awarded the Player of the Match award for his exceptional bowling performance.

During this encounter, Pathirana was in superb form. The Sri Lankan bowler held Mumbai to 139/8 in 20 overs while taking three wickets in his spell of four overs and conceding just 15 runs in the spell.

Along with Pathirana, Deepak Chahar and Tushar Deshpande also performed well, as both of them snapped two wickets. MI’s batting collapsed while this was happening, on the other hand, Nehal Wadhera played a remarkable knock of 64 runs from 51 balls.

I feel he’ll serve for a long time in Sri Lankan cricket: MS Dhoni

Due to some strong batting from Devon Conway (44), Ruturaj Gaikwad (30), and Shivam Dube (26*), CSK was able to complete the 140-run target in 17.4 overs. The former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla grabbed two wickets for the visitors against his former team.

Pathirana, who has a unique bowling action and has 10 wickets this season in 15 games, and is currently MS Dhoni’s go-to player in pressure situations. Dhoni gave Pathirana some specific advice and warned him following CSK’s victory over MI.

“People who don’t have very clean (conventional) 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 was quoted as saying after winning the matcg in the post-match presentation.

“So you can always use him at crucial times. But make sure he’s fit and available for all the major 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,”the 41-year-old asserted.