MS Dhoni, who is the captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), has been one of Matheesha Pathirana’s biggest fans, especially during the IPL 2023. Even when Pathirana lost a game to the Punjab Kings at Chepauk earlier this season by giving up a boundary on the last ball he threw, Dhoni was the first to put his arm around the young pacer.
The 20-year-old, whose bowling action is very similar to that of Mumbai Indians and Sri Lankan great Lasith Malinga, has lived up to Dhoni’s faith by taking 17 wickets in 11 matches so far. This week, Dhoni met Pathirana’s family in Chennai after his team beat the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1.
“Now that Thala said that, we know that Malli is in good hands. “Don’t worry about Matheesha, he’s always with me,” Pathirana’s sister Vishuka wrote on Instagram with pictures of Dhoni and their family.
In fact, it was Dhoni who saw the 20-year-old’s talent early on and brought him into the CSK family. “Pathirana is a good “death bowler.” Also, his actions make it a little hard to choose. He also has one that moves more slowly. So you have to keep a close eye on him. Dhoni had said earlier in the IPL 2023, “When you spend those extra seconds watching the ball and he is bowling at a good speed, it is hard to hit him consistently.”
Dhoni also got into a big fight with the referees during the Qualifier 1 match against GT. His long argument with the officials could get him banned from the IPL 2023 final. Pathirana had been off the field for 4 minutes, and the umpires wouldn’t let him bowl against GT in the 16th over of their game.
Matheesha Pathirana, a bowler for CSK, was not allowed to bowl his second spell at the end, even though he had taken out the dangerous Vijay Shankar and Mohammed Shami. He had gotten 4-0-37-2 in his first spell.
In the second part of the Titans’ chase, the Sri Lankan left the field to get care for a niggle that wasn’t clear. Before leaving the field, Pathirana had thrown his first over, which was the 12th over of the game as a whole.
According to the rules of the IPL, any player who leaves the field for more than eight minutes must wait on the field for the same amount of time before he can bowl again. But when Pathirana came back, he was asked to bowl the 16th over. The Gujarat Titans needed to score another 71 runs in 30 balls to win, but they had already reached 102 for six.
After all of these talks, the four minutes were up, and Pathirana was allowed to bowl, even though the eight minutes that were allowed had already passed. Pathirana didn’t get a wicket in that over, but he got the dangerous Vijay Shankar out in his next over, which turned the match in CSK’s favor.
